'&  ®&wc&<&$tot 


OF  CALIF.  LIBRARY,  LOS  AHGELES 


BY    THE    SAME    AUTHOR. 


IDOLATRY:   A  ROMANCE 

1  vol.,  12mo,  bevelled  boards.    $2.OO. 


"  One  of  the  most  fascinating  books  of  its  kind  within  our  knowl- 
edge. It  is  a  very  daring  .piece  of  work  :  but  the  rigor  of  imagination 
and  the  dexterous  skill  with  which  it  is  wrought  out  justify  the  work- 
man. The  charm  is  in  the  personages  and  in  the  character  which  they 
reveal.  Although  lifted  far  above  the  plane  of  real  life,  they  are 
only  therefore  more  intensely  human.  Balder  is  grand  in  a  radiant 
manliness,  which  makes  him  as  close  a  representative  of  a  Scandina- 
vian demi-god  as  a  man  can  be  who  was  born  in  America  and  eclu 
at  a  German  University  ;  and  Grulemah,  the  new  Miranda,  who  first 
worships  Balder  as  her  God,  and  then  loves  him  as  a  man,  is  a  won- 
derful and  enchanting  revelation  of  that  delicious  mystery,  unmiti- 
gated womanhood.'7 —  If.  Y.  Times. 

*»*  For  salt  by  all  Booksellers.     Sent,  postpaid,  on  receipt  of  price 
by  the  publishers, 

JAMES    R.    OSGOOD   &  CO., 

BOSTON. 


SAXON    STUDIES. 


JULIAN  HAWTHORNE. 


BOSTON: 
JAMES  R.  OS  GOOD  AND   COMPANY. 

[LATE  TICKNOR  &  FIELDS,  AND  FIELDS,  OSGOOD,  &  Co.] 

1876. 


Copyright,  187JV,  by  JULIAN  HAWTHORNE. 


RIVERSIDE,    CAMBRIDGE  : 

STEREOTYPED     AND     PRINTED     BT 
H.    0.    HOUGHTON   AND   COMPANT. 


To 
EDWARD   D.  HOSMER,  ESQ., 

OF    CHICAGO, 

A  SOUVENIR  OF  ONE  OR  TWO  WELL-REMEMBERED  YEARS 
FROM  HIS  FRIEND, 

THE  AUTHOR. 


2130214 


PREFACE. 


WHEN  the  ostensibly  subject  of  a  book  is  one 
with  which  everybody  believes  himself  familiar,  the 
legendary  G"entle  Reader  becomes  rarer  than  ever. 
The  author  of  the  present  compilation,  however, 
has  not  consciously  written  anything  calculated 
practically  to  avail  the  least  instructed  visitor  to 
Saxony.  Under  cover  of  discussing  certain  aspects 
of  Dresden  life,  he  has  stolen  entrance  to  a  far 
wider  field  of  observation  and  remark,  —  so  wide, 
that  though  the  whole  world  of  analyzers  and 
moralists  crowded  into  it,  there  would  be  space 
and  to  spare  for  each  hobby  to  curvet  its  fill.  He 
is  free  to  admit  that  his  interest  in  Saxony  and 
the  Saxons  is  of  the  most  moderate  kind,  —  cer- 
tainly not  enough  to  provoke  a  treatise  upon  them. 
They  are  as  dull  and  featureless  a  race  as  exists 
in  this  century,  and  the  less  one  has  to  do  with 
them,  the  better.  But,  the  plan  of  his  work  re- 
quiring some  concrete  nucleus  round  which  to  group 
such  thoughts  and  fancies  as  he  wished  to  venti- 


IV  PREFACE. 

late,  and  the  Saxon  capital  chancing  to  have  been 
his  residence  of  late  years,  he  has  used  it,  rather 
than  any  other  place,  to  serve  his  turn  in  this  re- 
spect. So  far,  therefore,  from  being  abashed  at  any 
critic's  discovering  nothing  essentially  Saxon  in 
"  Saxon  Studies,"  he  would  insist  upon  thinking 
such  a  verdict  complimentary. 

On  the  other  hand,  the  author  by  no  means  de- 
sires to  evade  the  responsibility  of  whatever  opin- 
ions on  Saxon  life  and  character  the  ensuing  pages 
happen  to  contain.  He  has  perhaps  been  led  to 
speak  home  truths  on  this  subject  oftener  than  he 
would  otherwise  have  done,  by  reason  of  the  mawk- 
ish tendency,  very  observable  of  late,  to  make  Ger- 
mans of  all  people  in  the  world,  and  Saxons  with 
them,  objects  of  sentimental  hero-worship.  But 
nothing  that  he  has  advanced  in  this  direction  errs 
not  on  the  side  of  mildness  rather  than  of  severity ; 
and  no  deliberate  assertion  as  to  matter  of  fact  that 
he  has  made  is  controvertible  upon  any  grounds 
whatsoever. 

Probably  none  would  more  readily  admit  this 
than  the  better  class  of  Saxons  themselves.  It  is 
true  that  these  chapters,  while  appearing  serially, 
were  bitterly  denounced  in  some  of  the  Dresden 
journals,  as  well  as  elsewhere.  *But  the  author  has 
before  him,  as  he  writes,  the  programme  of  a  "  Na- 


PREFACE.  V 

tive  and  Foreign  Mutual  Interest  Protection  Com- 
pany," dated  at  Dresden,  June,  1875,  and  signed 
by  Baron  Von  Stockhausen  as  president.  This  com- 
pany aims  to  remedy  some  of  those  very  abuses,  for 
mentioning  which  the  "  Studies  "  have  been  assailed. 
The  reform  is  a  necessary,  if  not  a  particularly 
hopeful  one  ;  but  in  any  event,  the  present  writer 
is  very  far  from  claiming  either  credit  for  the  en- 
terprise or  interest  in  its  success ;  and  would  be 
hugely  diverted  to  find  himself  masquerading  in  a 
character  so  alien  to  his  ambition  and  capacity  as 
that  of  a  patcher-up  of  dilapidated  manners  and 
morals. 

"  Saxon  Studies "  own  no  such  exalted  preten- 
sions. That  they  may  be  an  amusement  and  relax- 
ation to  the  reader,  as  they  have  been  to  the  writer, 
is  the  best  the  latter  cares  to  wish  for  them.  Prov- 
idence would  never  have  been  at  the  pains  -to  create 
man  the  only  laughing  animal,  had  it  not  first 
made  him  the  most  laughable  of  all. 

LONDOX,  October,  1875. 


CONTENTS. 


PAGE 

I.  DRESDEN-  ENVIRONS 9 

• 

II.  OF  GAMBRINUS 71 

III.  SIDEWALKS  AND  ROADWAYS          .        .        .        .        .123 

IV.  STONE  AND  PLASTER 191 

V.  DRESDEN  DIVERSIONS 249 

VI.  TYPES  CIVIL  AND  UNCIVIL 313 

VII.  MOUNTAINEERING  IN  MINIATURE          .        .        .        .383 


DRESDEN    ENVIRONS. 


SAXON   STUDIES. 

CHAPTER  I. 

DRESDEN  ENVIRONS. 
I. 

THE  capital  of  Saxony,  although  not  devoid  of 
some  pleasant  interior  features,  improves,  like  the 
Past  as  we  walk  away  from  it ;  until,  seen  from  a 
certain  distance,  it  acquires  a  smack  of  Florence. 
But  cross  this  line  in  either  direction,  and  the  charm 
begins  to  wane.  Here  erects  itself  a  moral  barrier, 
which  the  temperate  traveller  should  not  transgress. 
A  like  mystic  circle  of  greatest  enjoyment  surrounds 
all  delights ;  though,  unfortunately,  we  are  aware  of 
it  only  after  it  has  been  overpassed.  The  right 
perception  of  mutual  distances  is  a  Philosopher's 
Stone,  for  which  the  wise,  from  Solomon  down,  have 
been  experimenting. 

The  true  end  of  travel  is,  to  reconcile  us  to  our 
homes.  We  study  foreign  countries  and  customs,  not 


12  SAXON   STUDIES. 

for  their  intrinsic  sake,  but  in  order  to  compare  them 
disadvantageously  with  our  own  :  and  thus  the  mere 
cosmopolitan  misses  more  than  he  gains.  But  man's 
eyesight  sharpens  as  his  intellect  expands,  and  he 
begins  to  hold  aloof  from  his  surroundings.  The 
tendency  is  not  an  unhealthy  one,  and,  had  Paradise 
never  been  lost,  we  should  scarce  have  heard  so  much 
about  its  attractions.  Lovers,  it  is  true,  appear  to 
prefer  contact  to  vision  ;  but  hearts  —  and  sweet- 
hearts—  see  with  some  faculty  transcending  ordinary 
eyesight,  and  unattainable  by  commonplace  travel^ 
lers.  Nevertheless,  we  shall  do  wisely,  on  starting 
out  into  the  world,  not  quite  to  disencumber  ourselves 
of  our  affectional  luggage.  It  restrains  too  extended 
wanderings,  and  tempers  glances  else  too  keen  for 
perfect  truth. 

As  for  Dresden,  I  think  its  main  charm  lurks  in 
the  towers  of  its  churches  and  palaces.  They  elevate 
the  city's  outline  and  make  it  seductive :  albeit  there- 
by somewhat  falsifying  its  true  character.  Dresden 
is  less  romantic  than  the  promise  of  its  spires  :  for 
that  matter,  it  is  doubtful  whether  any  city  could 
maintain  the  standard  of  a  cluster  of  minarets. 
Surely,  the  veriest  atheist  —  if  there  stir  within  him 
any  vestige  of  what  less  rational  beings  call  a  soul  — 
must  bless  Eternal  Nothingness  that  superstition  still 
puts  steeples  on  her  churches.  Religion  may  be 


DRESDEN   ENVIRONS.  13 

folly,  but  all  creeds  admit  the  beauty  of  a  dome.  It 
gives  unlimited  enjoyment,  and  covers  a  multitude  of  ' 
sins.  What  is  there,  in  this  upward-tapering,  slen- 
der-pointing, worse  than  practically  useless  structure 
that  so  ensnares  the  fancy  ?  Certainly,  a  spire  is  an 
outrage  to  logic  and  to  common  sense.  Yet  has  the 
practice  of  building  them  outlived  many  a  seeming- 
wiser  custom,  and  will,  I  trust,  be  one  of  the  latest- 
cured  follies  of  mankind.  The  idea  was  first,  per- 
haps, suggested  by  an  aspiring  lamp-flame  ;  and  it 
may  continue  in  vogue  so  long  as  fire  —  and  that 
finer  fire  we  call  soul  —  tends  heavenward. 

At  all  events,  had  I  a  grudge  against  Dresden, 
with  power  to  back  it,  I  would  overthrow  her  towers. 
Had  they  never  been  erected,  the  city  would  to- 
day have  been  unknown.  The  traveller,  downward- 
gazing  from  yonder  long-backed  hill,  and  beholding 
a  flattened  swarm  of  mean-featured  houses  spread- 
ing dingily  on  both  sides  of  a  muddy  river,  would 
have  hastened  on  to  carry  fame  and  fortune  else- 
where. Not  here  had  the  Sistine  Madonna  chosen 
her  abode. 

But,  as  it  is,  these  dusky  minarets  are  loadstones 
whose  attraction  it  is  not  easy  to  resist.  In  absence, 
they  rise  in  memory  and  woo  us  back.  Neverthe- 
less, if  we  have  once  escaped,  we  shall  do  wisely  to 


14  SAXON   STUDIES. 

revisit  them  no  more.  The  tall  pinnacles  lose  noth- 
ing in  the  light  of  recollection  ;  rather  a  second 
look  would  find  them  less  lofty  and  refined  than  at 
first.  Beautiful  were  they  as  we  gazed  upon  them ; 
but  perfect,  only  when  we  have  turned  away. 


DRESDEN  ENVIRONS.  15 


II. 

FROM  the  summit  of  this  grassy  upland  we  may 
see  the  city  lie  below  us  in  the  broad  and  shallow 
valley  through  which  the  Elbe  prolongs  a  lazy  S. 
Under  the  influence  of  the  early  sunbeams,  a  thin 
brown  mist  rises  above  the  red-tiled  roofs,  and  is 
trailed  away  by  the  indolent  breeze.  This  valley  is 
a  notable  wind-conductor,  and  many  an  epidemic  has 
been  put  to  flight  by  the  sturdy  northern  gales  — 
fortunate  medicine  for  a  most  constipated  system  of 
drainage. 

We  turn  our  backs  on  the  city,  and  ramble  coun- 
try-wards for  to-day.  We  may  walk  as  leisurely 
as  we  like,  pausing  whenever  the  humor  takes  us. 
For  my  own  part,  I  refuse  at  the  outset  to  be 
hurried,  or  to  stick  to  the  main  road  when  the  by- 
path looks  more  inviting.  The  day  is  before  us, 
and  it  is  better  to  acquire  something  of  country 
lore  before  attempting  the  city. 

As  the  sun  of  planets,  so  is  Dresden  centre  of 
a  spattering  of  villages.  It  is  observable,  that,  al- 
though the  central  body  is  greatly  larger,  and  pre- 


16  SAXON  STUDIES. 

sum  ably  older  than  its  satellites,  yet  the  latter  are 
more  antique  in  aspect  and  conservative  in  character. 
Like  the  smallest  babies,  they  have  the  oldest  faces, 
and  are  farthest  behind  the  age.  Their  limited  con- 
stitutions do  not  easily  assimilate  new  food :  the 
short-paced  intelligence  of  the  offspring  fails  to 
keep  pace  with  the  parent's  far-striding  civilization. 
Dresden  is,  at  present,  not  very  far  behind  the  age 
in  some  respects :  it  knows  something  about  veloci- 
pedes, tram-ways,  and  expensive  living.  But  the 
villages  are  still  early  in  their  eighteenth  century. 
The  ignorance  of  the  average  Saxon  peasant  is  pet- 
rifying— all  the  more  in  view  of  the  fact  that,  of 
late  years,  he  has  begun  to  learn  reading  and  writ- 
ing. Such  acquirements  appear  to  be  a  poor  gauge 
of  intelligence.  Of  the  march  of  events — the  news 
of  the  day  —  of  all  such  "knowledges  as  the  American 
infant  sucks  in  with  the  milk  from  his  feeding- 
bottle  —  your  Saxon  peasant  has  no  inkling.  Often 
he  cannot  tell  you  the  name  of  the  king  beneath 
whose  palace  walls  he  lives.  A  tradition  is  current 
that  the  last  king  but  one  (who  was  safely  buried 
about  thirty  years  ago)  still  survives  in  a  neighbor- 
ing castle,  a  captive  to  the  ambition  of  his  relatives. 
In  short,  like  better  men  than  they,  when  truth  is 
not  readily  to  be  had,  they  swallow  lies  with  at  least 
equal  relish.  The  Saxon  mind  is  capacious  of  an 


DRESDEN  ENVIRONS.  17 

indefinite  amount  of  information  ;  but  its  digestion 
is  out  of  proportion  weak.  There  is  not  power  to 
work  up  the  meal  of  knowledge  into  the  flesh  and 
blood  of  wisdom.  I  have  observed  in  the  faces  of 
the  learned  an  expression  of  mental  dyspepsia, — 
bulbous  foreheads  and  dull  pale  eyes.  As  for  Schil- 
ler, Goethe,  Heine,  and  the  rest  of  that  giant  con- 
clave, they  are  either  not  German,  or  else  they  are 
the  only  true  Germans  ever  born.  Immense,  truly, 
seems  to  be  their  popularity  among  their  later  coun- 
trymen :  but  is  the  sympathy  so  officiously  asserted, 
genuine  stuff  ?  It  sometimes  puts  me  in  mind  of 
the  reflection  of  sublimity  in  mud-puddles. 

There  is,  or  used  to  be,  a  syminetricalness  and 
consistency  about  these  peasants,  unattainable  by 
the  more  enlightened.  They  lived  near  the  earth, 
like  plantains ;  but  their  humbleness  was  compen- 
sated by  some  wholesome  qualities.  It  is  uncom- 
fortable to  reflect  that  cultivation  will  vitiate  them 
—  has  already  begun  to  do  so.  Such  manure  as 
they  are  treated  to  will  cause  them  either  to  grow 
rank  and  monstrous,  or  to  rot  away.  Broad-based 
scepticism  is  sometimes  maintained  to  be  better  than 
deep-rooted  prejudice  ;  but  it  does  not  seem  to  with- 
stand storms  so  well. 

If  progress  must  progress  with  these  people,  why 
not  a  little  modify  the  method  ?  The  heart  of  the 
2 


18  SAXON   STUDIES. 

peasant  is,  perhaps,  as  valid  as  other  men's :  but 
his  brain  is  notably  weak.  Yet  reformers  address 
themselves  solely  to  the  latter,  and  force  it  to  an 
empty  activity.  The  cone  is  thus  inverted,  and 
the  learned  peasant  topples  over.  In  the  best  of 
men,  the  brain,  however  large,  has  always  been 
out-weighed  by  the  heart.  Were  education  filtered 
into  the  peasant  through  the  latter  channel,  it  could 
never  hurt  him.  It  might  work  in  more  slowly, 
but  would  always  remain  pure  and  sweet,  and 
never  overfill  the  vessel. 


DRESDEN   ENVIRONS.  19 


III. 

BARRIERS  against  civilization  are  rather  physical 
than  moral,  —  a  matter  of  good  or  bad  roads.  We 
need  not  consult  books  for  the  history  of  past 
times ;  all  ages  since  tb.e  Deluge  live  to-day,  if  the 
traveller  direct  his  steps  aright.  How  old  is  the 
world  ?  Shall  we  measure  its  antiquity  by  Babylon 
or  Boston  ?  Time  sleeps  beneath  immemorial  ruins 
at  one  spot,  while  he  mounts  the  telegraph-pole  at 
another-. 

The  Nineteenth  Century,  accordingly,  while  it 
ambles  easily  down  the  current  of  the  Elbe,  and 
along  the  high-roads  and  railways,  seldom  exerts 
itself  to  climb  a  hill  or  wind  its  way  into  a  se- 
questered valley.  There  are  retreats  but  a  few 
miles  from  Dresden,  where  still  lingers  the  light  of 
centuries  sunk  beneath  the  general  horizon.  The 
"  Guttentag "  affords  a  ready  test  of  the  matter : 
the  distribution  of  this  flower  of  courtesy  marks 
the  boundaries  of  progress.  Try  yonder  peasant,  for 
instance,  as  he  passes  us  on  the  road.  Did  he  stare 
stolidly  at  us?  or  go  by,  awkwardly  unconscious, 


20  SAXON   STUDIES. 

with  averted  gaze?  We  are  at  an  easy  distance 
from  Dresden,  and  the  roads  are  good.  But,  did 
he  touch  his  cap,  meet  our  glance  with  humble 
frankness,  and  speak  the  "  Good-day  "  with  a  pleas- 
ant gruffness  of  cordiality  ?  Alas,  poor  fellow  !  he 
lives  in  a  savage  gorge,  accessible  only  by  an  un- 
easy foot-path.  Though  he  appear  scarce  thirty,  he 
was  born  at  least  one  hundred  and  fifty  years  ago. 
He  knows  nothing  about  the  Neue-Contiiiental- 
Pferd-Eisenbahn-Actien-Gesellshaft  lately  started  in 
Dresden.  May  we  not  almost  say,  seeing  that  he 
has  never  breathed  our  Nineteenth  Century  air,  that 
he  has  no  real  existence  at  all? 

This  same  flower  of  courtesy  depends  for  its 
growth,  not  solely  on  the  locality,  however,  but 
somewhat  also  on  the  individual.  In  one  and  the 
same  household  we  may  meet  with  it  under  all 
conditions  of  luxuriance,  or  starvation.  As  a  rule, 
it  .flourishes  best  with  the  very  old  and  with  the 
very  young  —  those  who  have  either  lived  too  long 
to  be  affected  by  modern  gospels,  or  have  not  yet 
grown  tall  enough  to  reach  up  to  them.  It  is  in 
the  hands  of  the  well-grown  youth  that  the  flower 
is  most  apt  to  droop,  or  wither  quite  away :  they  it 
is  who  dream  most  of  emigrating  to  America,  and 
who  meantime  practise  some  American  virtues  in 
their  native  cottages.  Much  unhappiness  is  no 


DRESDEN  ENVIRONS.  21 

doubt  in  store  for  them:  but  posterity  may  glorify 
their  stripes  with  stars. 

Their  newly  gained  culture  has  not  yet  sunk  so 
deeply  into  these  peasants,  however,  as  to  be  inca- 
pable of  occasional  disconcertment.  If  we  first  salute 
them,  they  will  almost  invariably  return  our  greet- 
ing :  or  the  magnet  of  an  overbearing  or  calmly 
superior  glance  will  often  draw  the  words  from  our 
man,  or  startle  them  out  of  him.  For  no  Saxon,  of 
whatever  degree,  understands  the  maintenance  of 
self-respect  in  the  presence  of  what  he  fancies  a 
superior  power. 

In  treating  of  Saxon  manners,  it  might  be  sup- 
posed that  the  illustrations  should  be  drawn  else- 
where than  from  the  peasantry.  But  I  find  among 
them  the  original  forms  of  many  social  peculiarities, 
which,  on  higher  planes,  are  almost  unnoticeable  by 
reason  of  their  conventional  dress :  conventionalism 
being  the  true  cloak  of  invisibility.  Superficially,  a 
best-society  drawing-room  in  Germany  and  in  Eng- 
land appear  much  alike  ;  but  go  to  ihe  corresponding 
villages,  and  we  see  plainly  points  of  difference, 
which  exist  no  less  —  although  imperceptibly  — 
higher  up.  The  thin,  satiny  skin  of  the  polished 
man  of  the  world  is  a  better  veil  of  his  soul,  than 
is  the  canvas-like  hide  of  the  coarse-grained  laborer. 

But,  indeed,  all  Saxons  know  how  to  be  polite,  and 


22  SAXON  STUDIES. 

often  seem  to  take  pleasure  in  elaborate  exhibitions 
of  civility.  Few  things  do  they  enjoy  more  than  to 
take  off  their  hats,  smile,  nod,  and  exclaim,  "  Ja ! 
Ja  !  Ja  !  "  It  is  curious  and  strange  to  watch  the 
antics  of  a  group  of  acquaintances  who  have  by 
chance  encountered  one  another  in  the  street.  After 
a  brief  but  highly  animated  conversation,  they  pro- 
ceed to  make  their  adieux.  It  is  on  his  powers  in 
this  respect  that  the  Saxon  chiefly  prides  himself. 
Behold,  therefore,  our  friends  who  stand  waving  their 
hats,  smiling,  nodding,  gesticulating,  peppering  one 
another  with  broadsides  of  Ja's.  They  become 
every  moment  more  and  more  wound-up.  Their 
excitement  permeates  every  part  of  their  bodies, 
and  approaches  ecstasy.  It  resembles  the  frenzy  of 
Dancing  Dervishes,  or  the  more  familiar  madness 
of  our  own  Shakers.  This  is  the  Saxon's  mystic 
religious  dance.  To  this  height  of  fervor  rises  the 
warm-heartedness  for  which  he  is  noted.  Polite- 
ness is  common  in  Saxony  —  provided  only  that  it 
cost  no  more  than  in  the  proverb. 


DRESDEN   ENVIRONS.  23 


IV. 

AMERICAN  Emerson  says,  "  I  have  thought  a  suffi- 
cient measure  of  civilization  is  the  influence  of  good 
women."  He  is  said  to  be  the  most  popular  foreign 
essayist  in  Germany  ;  and  it  is  certain  that  these  ' 
people  are  most  fond  of  such  literature  as  is  far- 
thest beyond  their  comprehension.  Nevertheless,  no 
true  Saxon  would  subscribe  to  this  particular  dogma. 
For  yonder  market-wagon,  high-piled  with  country 
produce,  and  drawn  by  a  woman  and  a  dog  tugging 
on  either  side  the  shaft,  while  the  husband  driver 
walks  unencumbered  alongside,  is  so  far  from  be-  . 
ing  a  singular  spectacle  that,  after  now  some  six 
years  daily  familiarity  with  it,  I  confess  to  a  dif- 
ficulty in  quite  sympathizing  with  the  indigna- 
tion of  a  new-comer.  But,  indeed,  this  is  nothing : 
only,  at  nightfall,  we  shall  meet  the  same  wagon 
homeward  drawn  by  the  same  team  :  and  lo  !  seated 
upon  the  empty  hampers,  smokes  serene  the  man 
and  master  of  all.  Let  us  be  rational :  why  walk 
home  when  our  woman  and  dog  are  at  hand  to 
carry  us  ? 


24  SAXON   STUDIES. 

Why  do  not  the  woman-emancipationists  come  to 
Saxony,  and  see  with  their  own  eyes  what  the  capac- 
ities of  the  sex  actually  are?  Here  women  show 
more  strength  and  endurance  than  many  of  their 
husbands  and  brothers  do.  They  carry  on  their 
broad  backs,  for  miles,  heavier  weights  than  I  should 
care  to  lend  my  shoulders  to.  Massive  are  their  legs 
as  the  banyan-root ;  their  hips  are  as  the  bows  of  a 
three-decker.  Backs  have  they  like  derricks ;  rough 
hands  like  pile-drivers.  They  wear  knee-short  skirts, 
sleeves  at  elbows,  head-kerchiefs.  As  a  rule  they 
possess  animal  good-nature  and  vacant  amiability. 
But  at  twenty  or  twenty-five  they  are  already  grow- 
ing old. 

Growing  old,  with  them,  is  a  painful  process,  not 
a  graceful  one.  The  reserves  of  vitality  are  dryland 
the  woman's  face  becomes  furrowed,  even  as  the  fields 
she  cultivates.  Her  eyes  fade  into  stolidity  and  un- 
intelligence.  Her  mouth  seldom  smiles.  Thirty 
finds  her  hollowed-cheeked,  withered,  bony.  At 
fifty  —  should  she  live  so  long  —  she  is  in  extreme 
old  age.  Meanwhile  she  has  been  bearing  children 
as  plentifully  as  though  that  were  her  sole  employ- 
ment. But  such  labors  secure  her  scarce  a  tempo- 
rary immunity  from  other  toil.  I  have  seen  her 
straining  up  a  long  hill,  weighted  with  more  bur- 
dens than  one. 


DRESDEN  ENVIRONS.  25 

Pleasanter  is  it  to  consider  her  in  the  hay-field, 
before  youth  has  dried  up  in  her.  Her  plain  cos- 
tume follows  her  figure  closely  enough  to  show  to 
the  best  advantage  its  heavy  but  not  unhandsome 
contours.  Seen  from  a  distance,  her  motions  and 
postures  have  often  an  admirable  grace.  Her  limbs 
observe  harmonious  lines.  In  raking,  stooping,  toss- 
ing the  hay,  her  action  is  "supple  and  easy.  As  she 
labors  in  the  sun,  she  keeps  up  a  continuous  good- 
humored  chatter  with  her  companions.  Her  bare 
arms  and  legs  are  bronzed  by  summer  exposure  to 
heat  —  and  dirt ;  and  her  visage  is  of  a  color  almost 
Ethiopian.  But  an  American  Southerner  might  see 
in  her  more  than  the  dark  complexion,  to  put  him  in 
mind  of  former  days  and  institutions. 

The  Greeks  had  slaves  who  took  the  edge  off 
the  work,  but  were  not  intended  to  bear  Grecian 

/ 

children.  Saxon  slaves  are  not  let  off  so  easily. 
A  nation,  whose  women  keep  their  houses,  saw 
their  wood,  cultivate  their  crops  and  carry  them 
to  market  on  their  backs,  and  bear  children  in 
season  and  out  of  season,  may  indeed  go  to  war 
with  full  ranks,  for  a  time.  But  what  use  to  con- 
quer the  world,  if  our  sons  and  daughters  are  to 
grow  up  cripples  and  idiots  ?  For,  does  that  preg- 
nant woman  whom  we  saw  straining  uphill  with 
her  heavy  basket  injure  only  herself? 


26  SAXON   STUDIES. 

I  have  already  remarked  that  the  ground-plan 
of  high  society  may  best  be  studied  in  the  nearest 
village ;  and  so  the  best  way  to  become  acquainted 
with  a  Saxon  lady  is  to  observe  her  peasant-sister 
who  sweats  and  tugs  in  fields  and  on  country 
roads.  The  spirit  of  chivalry  never  throve  among 
these  people,  high  or  low ;  what  is  more  serious 
(and,  perhaps,  too  much  so  for  context  so  light- 
toned  as  this),  the  bulwarks  of  female  chastity, 
where  they  exist,  are  rather  mechanical  than  moral. 
In  Saxony,  therefore,  suspicion  justly  has  the 
weight  of  conviction.  The  best  result  of  this  sys- 
tem is  an  insecure  and  exaggerated  innocence : 
the  rest  needs  not  further  to  be  enlarged  upon. 

Women  are  what  men  make  them ;  and  thus 
we  come  back  to  our  Emersonian  text.  The  na- 
tion that  degrades  its  women,  cuts  off  the  wings 
and  darkens  the  light  which  should  lift  and  guide 
it  to  an  enduring  stand-point.  I  cannot  but  feel  a 
misgiving  about  these  German  triumphs  in  field 
and  cabinet,  when  I  see  men  helping  themselves 
before  women  at  table  —  and  elsewhere. 

How  many  of  us  have  dreamt  romantically  about 
the  ideal  German  peasant-girl  ?  She  appeared  to 
us  pretty  to  the  edge  of  beauty  —  perhaps  a  step 
beyond.  She  was  blue-eyed,  and  flaxen  braids  fell 
over  shapely  shoulders.  Her  gown  was  charmingly 


DRESDEN  ENVIRONS.  27 

caught  up  at  one  side  ;  she  was  often  seen  with  a 
distaff,  and  was'  apt  to  break  out  in  sunny  smiles 
or  pathetic  little  songs.  Grethe  and  Kaulbach  have 
much  to  answer  for !  And  yet,  among  many  im- 
perfect Gretchens,  I  have  sometimes  fancied  that  I 
caught  a  glimpse  of  the  real,  traditional  heroine. 

Handsome  and  pretty  women  are  certainly  no 
rarity  in  Saxony,  although  few  of  them  can  lay 
claim  to  an  unadulterated  Saxon  pedigree.  We 
see  lovely  Austrians,  and  fascinating  Poles  and 
Russians,  who  delicately  smoke  cigars  in  the  con- 
cert-gardens. But  it  is  hard  for  the  peasant  type 
to  rise  higher  than  comeliness;  and  it  is  distress- 
ingly apt  to  be  coarse  of  feature  as  well  as  of 
hand,  clumsy  of  ankle,  and  more  or  less  wedded 
to  grease  and  dirt.  Good  blood  shows  in  the  pro- 
file ;  and  these  young  girls,  whose  full  faces  are 
often  pleasant  and  even  attractive,  have  seldom  an 
eloquent  contour  of  nose  and  mouth.  There  is 
'  sometimes  great  softness  and  sweetness  of  eye  ;  a 
clear  complexion ;  a  pretty  roundness  of  chin  and 
throat.  Indeed,  I  have  found  scattered  through 
half  a  dozen-  different  villages  all  the  features  of 
the  true  Gretchen ;  and  once,  in  an  obscure  ham- 
let, whose  name  I  have  forgotten,  I  came  unex- 
pectedly upon  what  seemed  a  near  approach  to  the 
mythic  being.  She  was  at  work  on  the  village 


28  SAXON   STUDIES. 

pump-handle,  and  her  management  of  it  was  full 
of  grace  and  vigor.  She  bade  me  good-morning 
in  a  round,  melodious  voice,  and  looked  healthy, 
fresh,  bright,  and  almost  clean.  I  gave  but  one 
glance,  and  then  a  subtle  inward  monition  impelled 
me  to  hurry  away.  For,  although  a  second  look 
might  have  recognized  her  as  the  long-sought  one, 
yet  it  might  have  brought  disappointment,  and, 
therefore,  was  too  much  to  risk.  Meanwhile,  so 
much  was  gained  —  I  cannot  say  that  I  have  failed 
to  find  her. 

But  this  is  sentimental  nonsense.  English, 
French,  Italians,  Spaniards,  Russians  —  each  and 
all  surpass  their  German  sister  in  some  particular 
of  beauty ;  and  the  American,  in  all  combined. 
Gretchen  will  always  have  unlovely  hands  and 
shapeless  feet ;  her  flaxen  braids  will  be  dull  and 
lustreless,  and  her  head  will  be  planed  off  behind 
on  a  line  with  her  ears.  This  is  no  anti-climax  ; 
for  most  of  the  qualities  which  make  a  human  be- 
ing humanly  interesting,  are  dependent  upon  a 
goodly  development  of  the  cerebellum. 


DRESDEN   ENVIRONS.  2i) 


V. 

WE  sallied  forth  this  morning  in  quest  of  a 
representative  Saxon  village ;  but,  save  as  regards 
situation,  one  is  as  representative  as  another.  The 
same  people  inhabit  all,  and  follow  the  same  cus- 
toms, submit  to  the  same  inconveniences,  partake 
of  the  same  ignorance,  and  are  wedded  to  the 
same  prejudices  and  superstitions.  Moreover,  the 
names  of  fifteen  out  of  twenty  of  these  villages 
end  in  the  same  three  mystic  letters  —  "  itz." 
-What  "  itz "  signifies  I  know  not ;  but  I  should 
fancy  that  whoever  lives  in  a  community  whose 
name  terminates  differently  would  feel  like  a  kind 
of  outlaw  or  alien.  Loschwitz,  Blasewitz,  Pillnitz, 
Pulsnitz,  Sedlitz,  Gorbitz,  —  all  are  members  of 
one  family,  and  look,  speak,  and  think  in  the 
family  way.  It  is  admirable  the  care  they  take 
to  post  up  their  names  on  a  signboard  at  each  en- 
trance of  the  village,  doubtless  a  safeguard  against 
the  serious  danger  of  forgetting  their  own  first 
syllables.  Were  some  mischievous  person,  while 
the  honest  villagers  slept,  to  interchange  all  their 


30  SAXON  STUDIES. 

signboards,  there  would  be  no  hope  of  their  ever 
identifying  themselves  again.  Perhaps,  indeed, 
they  might  fail  to  perceive  the  alteration.  Pill- 
nitz  or  Pulsnitz  —  what  odds?  It  can  matter  lit- 
tle to  a  pebble  what  position  on  the  beach  it 
occupies  ;  and  I  dare  say  the  members  of  various 
families  might  be  substituted  one  for  another, 
and  nothing  be  noticed  much  out  of  the  way  on 
either  side. 

Many  of  these  little  flocks  of  houses  have 
settled  down  from  their  flight  in  the  realm  of 
thought  along  the  banks  of  a  stream  which  trickles 
through  a  narrow  gorge,,  between  low  hills.  The 
brook  is  an  important  element  in  the  village  econ- 
omy, fulfilling  the  rather  discordant  offices  of  pub- 
lic drain,  swill-pail,  and  wash-tub  ;  and  moreover, 
serving  as  a  perennial  plaything  for  quantities  of 
white-headed  children  and  geese.  It  is  walled  in 
with  stone ;  narrow  flights  of  steps  lead  down  at 
intervals  to  the  water's  edge,  and  here  and  there 
miniature  bridges  span  the  flood.  The  water  bab- 
'  bles  over  a  pebbly  bottom,  varied  with  bits  of 
broken  pottery  and  cast-away  odds-and-ends  of  the 
household  ;  once  in  a  while  the  stream  gathers  up 
its  strength  to  turn  a  saw-mill,  and  anon  spreads 
out  to  form  a  shallow  basin.  Stiff-necked,  plaster- 
faced,  the  cottages  stand  in  lines  on  either  bank, 


DRESDEN   ENVIRONS.  31 

winking  lazily  at  one  another  with  their  old  glass 
eyes,  across  the  narrow  intervening  space.  Above 
their  red-tiled  roofs  rise  the  steep  hill-ridges,  built 
up  in  irregular  terraces,  overgrown  with  vines  or 
fruit  trees.  Nobody  seems  to  stay  at  home  except 
the  geese  and  the  babies. 

Such  little  settlements  hide  in  country  depths, 
whither  only  grassy  lanes  and  foot-paths  find  their 
way.  Others  there  are,  mere  episodes  of  the  high- 
road, dusty,  bare,  and  exposed,  with  flat  views 
over  surrounding  plains ;  with  a  naked  inn  — 
"  Gasthaus  "  —  in  their  midst,  where  thirsty  team- 
sters halt  for  beer,  and  to  stare  with  slow-moving 
eyes  at  the  pigmy  common  with  its  muddy  goose- 
pond,  and  to  pump  up  unintelligible  gutturals  at 
one  another.  Others,  again,  are  ranged  abreast 
beneath  the  bluffs  on  the  river  bank ;  a  straggling 
foot-path  dodges  crookedly  through  them,  scram- 
bling here  over  a  front  door-step,  there  crossing  a 
backyard.  Women,  bare  of  foot  and  head,  peer 
curiously  forth  from  low  door-ways  and  cramped 
windows ;  soiled  children  stare,  a-suck  at  muddy 
fingers ;  there  are  glimpses  of  internal  economies, 
rustic  meals,  withered  grandparents  who  seldom 
get  farther  than  the  door-step  ;  visions  of  infants 
nursed  and  spanked.  A  strip  of  grass  intervenes 
between  the  houses  and  the  Elbe  river  ;  through 


32  SAXON   STUDIES. 

trees  we  see  the  down-slipping  current,  bearing 
with  it  interminable  rafts  and  ponderous  canal- 
boats,  and  sometimes  a  puffing  steamer,  with  noisy 
paddle-wheels.  At  times  we  skirt  long  stretches  of 
blind  walls,  from  the  chinks  of  which  sprout  grass 
and  flowers ;  and  which  convey  to  us  an  obscure 
impression  of  there  being  grape-vines  on  the  other 
side  of  them. 

Or,  once  more,  and  not  least  picturesquely,  our 
village  alights  on  a  low  hill-top,  where  trees  and 
houses  crowd  one  another  in  agreeable  contention. 
The  main  approach  winds  snake-like  upwards  from 
the  grass  and  brush  of  the  valley,  but  on  reaching 
the  summit  splits  into  hydra  heads,  each  one  of 
which  pokes  itself  into  somebody's  barnyard  or 
garden,  leaving  a  stranger  in  some  embarrassment 
as  to  how  to  get  through  the  town  without  unau- 
thorized intrusion  on  its  inhabitants.  Besides  the 
main  approach,  there  are  clever  short-cuts  down 
steep  places,  sometimes  forming  into  a  rude  flight 
of  stone  steps,  anon  taking  a  sudden  leap  down  a 
high  terrace,  and  finally  creeping  out  through  a 
hole  in  the  hedge  at  the  bottom.  The  houses  look 
pretty  from  below ;  but  after  climbing  the  hill 
their  best  charm  vanishes,  like  that  of  clouds  seen 
at  too  close  quarters.  In  Saxony,  as  well  as  else- 
where, there  is  a  penalty  for  opening  Pandora's 
box. 


DRESDEN   ENVIRONS.  33 


VI. 

As  for  the  cottages  themselves,  they  are  for  the 
most  part  two-storied  boxe$,  smeared  with  stucco 
and  gabled  with  red  tiles ;  thatch  being  as  rare 
here  as  it  is  common  in  England.  In  fact,  these 
dwellings  are  not  real  cottages,  but  only  small,  in- 
convenient houses.  They  are  never  allied  to  their 
natural  surroundings  —  never  look  as  though  they 
had  grown  leisurely  up  from  some  seed  planted 
aeons  ago.  They  never  permit  us  to  mistake  them 
for  an  immemorial  tree-stump  or  mossy  rock,  which 
rustic  men  have  hollowed  out,  and  improved  into 
a  home.  The  oldest  of  them  have  a  temporary, 
artificial  look,  conveying  the  idea  that  they  have 
been  made  somewhere  else,  and  been  set  down  in 
their  present  situation  quite  by  accident,  to  be 
tried  in  a  new  place  to-morrow.  A  Saxon  never 
sees  the  spot  he  builds  in,  but  only  the  thing  he 
builds.  German  toy-villages,  which  charmed  our 
childhood,  are  more  accurate  copies  of  the  reality 
than  our  years  of  discretion  woijld  have  supposed. 
Magnify  the  toy,  or  view  the  reality  from  a  dis- 
tance and  the  two  are  one  and  the  same. 

3 


34  SAXON   STUDIES. 

This  unstable  impression  results  from  the  fact 
that  Saxon  souls  have  no  -home-instinct.  The  peas- 
ant thinks  of  his  house  as  a  place  to  sleep  in  — 
and  to  eat  in,  before  and  after  sleep.  He  knows 
no  hearth,  around  which  he  and  his  family  may  sit 
and  chat ;  instead,  there  stands  a  tall  glazed  earth- 
enware stove,  which  suggests  the  idea  rather  of  a 
refrigerator  than  of  a  fire  until  we  burn  our  fin- 
gers on  it ;  a  hypocritical,  repellant  thing,  which 
would  sooner  burst  than  look  comfortable.  And 
how  can  a  man  converse  rationally  or  affectionately 
over  night  with  the  woman  whom  he  means  to 
harness  to  his  cart  in  the  morning?  His  only  re- 
source is  to  go  to  the  inn,  and  drink  flatulent 
beer  in  company  with  a  knot  of  smoky  beings  like 
himself.  He  seldom  gets  drunk;  indeed,  I  doubt 
whether  the  "  Einfaches  "  beer  which  he  affects  is 
capable  of  producing  anything  worse  than  stolid 
torpidity  —  which  is  perhaps  not  a  wholly  undesir- 
able condition  for  a  homeless  man  to  be  in.  On 
gala-days  he  drinks  and  eats  more  than  usual,  and 
sometimes  put  on  a  suit  of  remarkable  black  broad- 
cloth —  with  the  comfortless  grandeur  thereto  ap- 
pertaining. He  plods  on  foot  to  the  next  village, 
and  sits  in  the  "  Restauration,"  or  bowls  in  the 
alley,  or  talks  crops  and  prices  with  his  peers.  Be 
that  how  it  may,  the  gala  ends,  for  him,  so  soon 
as  he  turns  his  face  homewards. 


DRESDEN  ENVIRONS.  35 

Partly  answerable  for  this  barrenness  of  soul  is, 
no  doubt,  the  form  of  government,  which  pokes  its 
clammy,  rigid  finger  into  each  man's  private  con- 
cerns, till  he  loses  all  spirit  to  be  interested  in 
them  himself.  But  yet  more,  must  it  be  said,  is  it 
traceable  to  that  cold,  profound  selfishness  which 
forms  the  foundation  and  framework  of  the  national 
and  individual  character,  in  every  walk  of  life ; 
the  wretched  chill  of  which  must  ultimately  annul 
the  warmth  of  the  most  fervent  German  eulogist, 
provided  he  be  bold  enough  to  bring  his  theoretical 
enthusiasm  to  the  decisive  test  of  a  few  years'  per- 
sonal intercourse  and  conversation  with  the  people. 

At  this  early  hour  of  the  day,  however,  our 
peasant  is  off  to  his  work,  and  we  may  examine 
his  abode  without  calling  into  question  the  qualities 
of  the  owner.  It  is  by  no  means  devoid  of  orna- 
mentation, both  natural  and  artificial ;  which,  if  in 
harmony  with  the  temporary  character  of  the  house 
itself,  is,  not  the  less,  often  tasteful  and  pretty. 
Whenever  possible,  the  house  is  made  the  nucleus 
of  a  bunch  of  flowers  and  verdure.  Brightly  col- 
ored blossoms  crowd  the  narrow  windows,  winter 
and  summery  and  the  greater  number  of  the  cot- 
tages have  attached  to  them  tiny  gardens  —  some 
hardly  bigger  than  large  flower-pots  —  where  grow 
pansies,  pinks,  marigolds,  and  roses,  in  gaudy  profu- 


36  SAXON   STUDIES. 

sion.  Flower  cultivation  is  a  national  trait ;  and  I 
have  seen  very  unassthetic-looking  people  plucking 
wild-flowers  in  the  fields.  Wild-flowers  are  easily 
obtainable,  it  is  true,  but  the  spirit  that  uses  them 
is  less  common.  Here  seems  to  be  a  contradiction, 
and  a  pleasant  one,  in  the  Saxon  peasant's  charac- 
ter. We  look  in  vain  from  his  house-windows  to 
those  of  his  face ;  there  are  no  traces  of  flowers 
there ;  albeit  plenty  of  soil  in  which  to  plant  them. 
Nevertheless,  were  there  not  germs  of  grace  and 
beauty  somewhere  hidden  in  him,  such  blossoms 
would  scarcely  adorn  his  outward  life. 

For  my  part,  I  like  to  believe  that  the  women 
thus  make  amends  to  themselves,  a  little,  .for  the 
moral  sterility  of  their  earthly  existence.  The 
flowers  that  we  see  in  their  windows  may  bloom 
there  to  a  better  purpose  than  elsewhere.  Per- 
haps, too,  they  may  be  prophetic  as  well  as  em- 
blematic of  good. 

Besides  his  flowers,  the  peasant  often  drapes  the 
front  of  his  house  with  a  thick  green  apron  of  wood- 
bine or  grape.  The  latter  is  never  out  of  place  ;  but 
woodbine  impresses  me  as  being  insincere  and  arti- 
ficial —  the  antipodes  of  the  strong  and  faithful  ivy. 
It  does  not  cling  to  its  support  of  itself,  but  must 
be  fastened  up;  and  a  mischievous  wind-gust  may 
snatch  it  from  its  moorings.  It  grows  rapidly ;  but 


DRESDEN  ENVIRONS.  37 

its  tendrils  do  not  twine  round  the  heart ;  nor  does 
it  endure  long  enough  for  the  eye  to  become  lov- 
ingly familiar  with  its  twists  of  stem  and  massings 
of  foliage.  Compared  with  ivy,  it  is  meretricious  ; 
flourishes  with  superficial  luxuriance,  but  has  no 
real  pith  ;  makes  a  gaudy  show  in  autumn ;  but  in 
winter  its  splendors  fall  away,  and  leave  a  strag- 
gling nakedness.  It  does  not  uphold,  but  is  up- 
held, and  must  fall  when  the  support  is  withdrawn. 
It  endures  but  a  few  years  at  best,  and  dies  un- 
lamented,  for  another  may  readily  be  had  to  fill  its 
place.  It  has  no  modesty,  but  obtrudes  itself  offi- 
ciously, flaunting  its  glossy,  fragile  leaves  with  an 
unbecoming  freedom.  It  lacks  the  tender  tradi- 
tions which  the  ivy  has.  Seen  from  a  distance,  an 
incautious  eye  might  mistake  the  one  for  the  other  ; 
but  when  I  find  my  ivy  turn  out  woodbine,  I  feel 
the  same  kind  of  disappointment  which  folfows 
upon  addressing  to  a  stranger  the  sentimental  re- 
mark intended  for  a  friend. 

The  grape  is,  on  the  whole,  perhaps  the  most  suit- 
able vine  for  cottage  purposes,  because  it  has  to  do 
with  the  life  of  the  present ;  whereas  the  ivy  more 
resembles  a  pall  than  a  wedding  garment,  and  is 
chiefly  associated  with  ruins  and  crumbling  tradi- 
tions. The  grape-vine  hangs  its  shaggy  green 
beard  from  eaves  and  window-sills ;  and,  when  the 


38  SAXON   STUDIES. 

fruit  is  ripe,  the  cottage  seems  the  realization  of  an 
Arcadian  dream  of  luxury.  Howbeit,  "if  we  attempt 
still  further  to  realize  our  dream  by  putting  forth 
our  hand  to  pluck  and  eat, — the  awakening  comes; 
for  every  cluster  has  a  market  as  well  as  an  aesthetic 
value.  It  is  well  to  be  pastoral  and  romantic,  but 
I  must  first  pay  so  many  groschen  for  the  grapes. 
Thus  is  sentiment  made  ridiculous  nowadays ;  all 
the  fine  pictures  have  a  reverse  side,  whereon  is 
daubed  a  grinning  caricature,  named  Common 
Sense,  or  Practical  Experience.  Some  clever  per- 
son is  almost  always  at  hand  to  spring  this  reverse 
upon  us ;  but  not  the  less  in  solitude,  or  in  rare 
companionship,  we  will  sometimes  forget  the  parody 
in  musing  on  the  poem. 


DRESDEN  ENVIRONS.  39 


VII. 

As  at  present  used  in  reference  to  the  works  of 
man,  picturesque  is  rather  a  vague  term.  If  it  may 
not  be  directly  defined  as  ignorance,  it  is  at  least 
opposed  to  what  is  understood  as  classic  beauty.  A 
picturesque  house  or  street  is  one  which,  though 
meant  for  use,  is  practically  inconvenient  to  the 
verge  of  uselessness.  From  this  point  of  view,  it 
will  be  doing  no  violence  to  polite  usage  to  describe 
these  Saxon  villages  as  eminently  picturesque.  The 
dwellings  are  seldom  so  comfortable  as  a  right  econ- 
omy of  materials  would  have  allowed ;  they  huddle 
together  irregularly,  drawing  in  their  toes,  as  it 
were,  and  ducking  their  heads  between  their  shoul- 
ders. Some  few  are  built  of  hewn  logs,  the  second 
story  projecting  like  a  ponderous  eyebrow ;  and 
these  have  I  know  not  what  quaint  charm,  which 
distinguishes  them  from  others  in  the  memory. 
They  are  more  primitive.  It  is  the  yoking  of  pov- 
erty with  some  so-called  modern  improvements-  that 
makes  true,  unlovable  ugliness.  Justly  to  harmon- 
ize itself,  poverty  should  wear  a  garment  of  an- 
tiquity, proportioned  to  its  degree. 


40  SAXON   STUDIES. 

The  front  door  is  not  always  the  mouth  through 
which  proceeds  the  true  utterance  of  the  house  ;  in 
many  it  is  uniformly  closed,  and  wears  an  aspect  of 
wooden  formality.  We  behold,  on  jambs  and  lintel, 
an  uncouth  display  of  architectural  ornamentation ; 
and  here  are  inscribed  the  date  of  erection,  the  name 
or  initials  of  the  founder,  and  some  baldly  pious 
motto  —  a  scriptural  proverb,  or  other  scrap  of 
religious  truism.  "  Im  Gottes  Segen  ist  Alles  "gele- 
gen,"  "  Wer  Gott  vertraut  hat  wohl  gebaut,"  and 
so  on  indefinitely.  These  may  be,  and  I  suppose 
they  generally  are,  taken  as  evidences  of  a  child- 
like simplicity  and  faith.  But  I  would  rather  they 

i 
had  been  written  on   the   inner   side   of   the   lintel. 

The  introduction  of  God's  name  to  every  base  oc- 
casion is  a  trait  of  this  people,  and  crops  out  in 
their  daily  conversation  to  a  degree  quite  astonish- 
ing. It  is  not  a  sincere  or  wholesome  practice, 
rather  a  kind  of  religious  snobbishness. 

Although  the  front  door  has  not  always  this 
pharisaical  character,  but  is  sometimes  made  genial 
by  an  ample  porch,  and  worn  steps  and  balusters 
—  yet  as  a  general  thing  the  back  door  manifests 
more  vitality  and  frankness.  It  opens  on  an  un- 
evenly paved  court ;  above,  the  tiled  roof  stoops 
affectionately  ;  here  sits  the  old  man  with  his  por- 
celain pipe,  and  watches  the  old  woman  peeling 


DRESDEN  ENVIRONS.  41 

potatoes  ;  while  the  baby  at  their  feet  is  happy  with 
the  potato-skins.  Here  we  see  the  earthen  pots 
and  copper-kettles  of  Dutch  painters ;  here  detect 
make-shifts  and  undress  rehearsals.  Here  is  a  fine 
irregularity  of  light  and  shade  ;  and,  in  the  heat  of 
summer,  a  grateful  gloom  and  dampness.  That 
man  must  be  puritanically  upright  and  above-board 
who  never  cherished  a  secret  partiality  for  back 
'doors.  There  are  easy  back-door  ways  of  doing 
and  saying  things,  such  as  can  never  make  their 
appearance  on  the  front  door-step. 

The  curiosity  which  may  have  prompted  me  to 
peep  into  a  Saxon  farm-yard  was  never  justified 
by  what  I  saw  there.  Two  sides  of  the  inclosure 
are  bounded  by  a  high  wall,  rough  with  dirty 
plaster ;  the  pther  two,  by  barns  and  out-houses. 
There  is  always  a  melancholy  excess  of  space :  ob- 
jects which  should  be  grouped  together,  languish 
apart.  Here  is  a  pump  ;  in  that  corner  huddles  a 
cart ;  yonder  is  a  heap  of  straw.  Lonely  hens 
straggle  here  and  there,  presided  over  by  an  ab- 
stracted cock,  who  never  crows.  An  ill-humored 
dog  barks  at  me  from  a  distant  kennel,  and  rattles 
his  rusty  chain.  It  is  vain  to  look  for  the  warmly- 
hospitable  atmosphere,  for  the  bustle,  the  sound, 
the  busy  repose  that  should  belong  to  farm-yards. 
The  ground  is  roughly  paved  with  cobble  stones  ; 


42  SAXON   STUDIES. 

infrequent  men  and  women  shuffle,  wooden-shod, 
across  and  along,  but  I  see  no  one  who  looks  a 
farmer.  The  Saxons  do  not  appreciate  the  earth ; 
they  sow  without  affection,  and  reap  without  "thank- 
fulness. Their  selfish  stolidity  cannot  sympathize 
with  warm-hearted,  generous,  slow,  majestic  nat- 
ure ;  they  grudge  the  labor  of  cooperating  with  her, 
and  would  rather  steal  the  milk  from  her  breast, 
than  claim  it  by  the  sacred  right  of  children.  But 
though  they  be  sulky,  nature  never  is ;  she  yields 
nourishment  to  them  as  to  others ;  and  there  is 
gracious  humor  in  the  smile  wherewith  she  hears 
them  grumble  at  the  pain  of  suckling  her. 

Hard  by  the  farm-yard  are  the  hillocks  and 
head-stones  of  the  village  cemetery.  Were  there 
any  warmth  in  the  dead,  they  lie  close  enough  here 
to  create  a  very  genial  temperature.  The  monu- 
mental devices  stand  shoulder  to  shoulder,  each 
striving  to  outdo  its  neighbor,  either  in  stylishness 
or  in  extravagance  of  eulogistic  inscription.  There 
can  be  no  safer  gauge  of  culture  in  a  people  than 
the  aspect  of  their  graves.  They  bury  their  bodies 
out  of  sight ;  but  their  superstition,  their  vanity, 
their  truth  or  falsehood,  —  these  nowhere  declare 
themselves  so  undisguisedly  as  on  the  tombstone. 

We  must  read  the  carven  inscription,  like  some 
kinds  of  secret  writing,  between  the  lines ;  and 


DRESDEN  ENVIRONS.  43 

ho\v  different  is  the  hidden  from  the  ostensible 
meaning !  What  traits  of  character  and  condition 
are  portrayed  in  the  design,  ornament,  and  mate- 
rial of  this  last  mile-stone  of  earthly  life  !  In 
what  a  solemn  light  they  stand ;  and  with  what 
eyes  must  the  soul  regard  them,  which  looks  from 
beyond  the  grave !  Pitifully  awry  must  the  least 
pretentious  appear,  from  that  stand-point ;  but  what 
of  these  gilt,  gingerbread  affairs,  with  their  record 
of  titles  and  virtues  ?  Green  grass  is  the  tomb- 
stone which  best  stands  all  tests.  It  tells  only  of 
the  life  which  springs  from  decay. 

Some  of  the  old  humorists  have  made  capital 
of  the  follies  of  head-stones ;  but  there  is  some- 
thing ghastly  in  the  smile  which  such  jests  create. 
I  prefer  to  let  the  poor,  fantastic  records  remain 
in  peace,  to  crumble  or  endure,  as  sun  and  rain 
may  choose.  Most  of  these  Saxon  memorials  are 
made  of  wood,  garnished  with  more  or  less  of 
symbolic  atrocity.  The  graveyard,  as  a  whole, 
wears  an  aspect  of  grisly  gayety,  impressing  the 
beholder  as  a  subtle  stroke  of  malignant  satire. 
In  the  silent  sunshine  of  a  summer  day,  or  be- 
neath the  yet  more  voiceless  moonlight,  the  strained 
discord  of  the  spectacle  is  protest  sufficient  against 
itself. 


44  SAXON   STUDIES. 


VIII. 

I  HAVE  already  made  passing  mention  of  the 
geese ;  but  they  are  entitled  to  more  than  a  brief 
notice.  They  constitute  a  goodly  proportion  of  the 
village  population,  and  they  are  invariably  at  home. 
When  not  paddling  and  gobbling  in  their  mud- 
puddle,  they  dawdle  in  lines  along  the  streets, 
or  anent  the  backyards,  where  may,  perchance,  be 
found  some  kind  of  food  dear  to  the  goosey  heart. 
There  is  admirable  unanimity  in  a  flock  of  geese, 
as  though  each  were  magnetically  conscious  of  all 
his  companions'  sentiments  and  emotions.  All  wish 
to  do  the  same  -thing  at  the  same  time ;  and  for- 
tunately the  conditions  of  their  life  permit  the  in- 
dulgence of  this  desire.  Yet  is  each  goose  a  king- 
dom to  himself;  pride  waddles  in  his  gait,  and 
unbounded  self-complacency  wallows  with  him  in 
the  dirt.  You  may  easily  put  him  to  flight ;  but 
out  of  countenance  —  never  !  So  soon  as  his  pursu- 
er's back  is  turned,  the  fugitive  hisses  as  briskly 
as  though  he  had  been  heroic  from  the  beginning. 

There    is    something   very   human   in   their  hiss, 


DRESDEN   ENVIRONS.  45 

and  in  their  expression  while  giving  vent  to  it.  I 
have  never  heard  precisely  such  a  sound  from  a 
human  being,  or  seen  a  human  neck  stretched  in 
just  such  a  way.  But  I  fancy  that  many  souls, 
were  they  visible,  would  appear  not  otherwise  than 
as  hissing  geese  ;  and  that  the  spirit  of  their  speech 
is  a  similar  sibilation. 

Though  intolerant  of  strangers,  geese  fraternize 
with  their  fellow -villagers,  albeit  never  on  terms  of 
such  familiar  confidence  as.  hens  maintain.  The 
character  of  the  goose,  with  its  fine  distinctions 
from  those  of  other  domestic  fowls,  has  never  been 
sufficiently  set  forth.  The  goose  should  not  be  made 
typical  of  stupidity,  save  as  it  may  be  the  essence 
of  stupidity  to  see  all  things  through  the  medium  of 
one's  self.  He  is  the  symbol  of  the  lowest  form  of 
egotism :  barring  that  he  is  as  astute  as  any  animal 
of  his  order.  I  never  heard  of  a  pet  goose :  there 
seems  to  be  no  way  of  caressing  him,  except  to 
feed  him ;  for  though  egotists  are  not  as  a  rule 
averse  to  being  made  much  of  —  as  witness  cats  — 
yet  the  goose  is  too  full  of  himself  to  care  for  en- 
"dearments.  Furthermore,  his  self-conceit  is  not  of 
a  wholesome  external  character,  like  that  of  a  tur- 
key or  peacock:  it  subsists  but  little  on  the  con- 
sciousness of  outward  attractions,  but,  seems  to 
build  upon  a  supposititious  mental  or  moral  worth, 


46  SAXON   STUDIES. 

— with  an  assurance,  ludicrous,  yet  too  human  to 
be  agreeable.  What  causes  the  goose  to  bend  his 
head  in  passing  beneath  the  farm-yard  gate,  except 
the  persuasion  that  his  towering  spirit  overtops  the 
world  ?  Unlike  that  of  the  eagle,  however,  the 
goose's  self-esteem  has  nothing  lofty  or  noble  in  it : 
it  is  the  conceit  of  vulgarity  —  pride  inverted,  be- 
cause based  on  petty  self. 

It  is  agreeable  to  harmony  to  observe  how  con- 
stantly the  goose  affects  muddy  water.  They  are 
the  pigs  of  the  bird  race.  They  prefer  muddy 
water  and  glory  in  it.  If  muddy  water  be  not  a 
good  emblem  of  spiritual  uncleanness  and  perverted 
truth,  I  know  not  where  to  find  a  better.  The 
proud  severity  of  swans  leads  them  to  pure  lakes 
and  streams,  and  the  naive  innocence  of  the  duck 
attaches  him  to  ponds  whose  faults  are  mitigated 
by  duck-weed  and  minnows.  But  nothing  suits  the 
goose  so  well  as  a  barren  mud-puddle.  The  sleek- 
ness of  his  coat  presents  a  sinister  contrast  to  the 
undisguised  grossness  of  his  interior.  He  is  an 
epitome  of  certain  human  vices ;  and  even  when 
prepared  for  the  table,  a  slice  too  much  of  him 
fills  the  soul  with  heavy  disgust. 

I  once  met  with  a  quaint  theory,  according  to 
which  the  dumb  companions  of  man  were  held  to 
be  the  reflection  of  his  own  ruling  thoughts  and 


DRESDEN  ENVIRONS.  47 

affections.  Thus,  the  character  of  the  savage  is 
revealed  in  the  wild  beasts  he  hunts ;  that  of  pas- 
toral nations,  in  their  peaceful  flocks ;  of  the  chival- 
rous and  warlike  races,  in  their  thorough-bred  and 
fiery  steeds.  As  the  man's  nature  changes,  so  do 
the  animals  around  him  die  out  or  multiply.  For 
every  wild  beast  that  becomes  extinct,  there  expires 
some  fierce  passion  of  a  human  soul.  For  every 
dove  that  coos  on  the  roof,  there  dwells  in  some 
heart  a  thought  of  innocence  and  gentleness ;  a 
pretty  fancy,  arbitrary  at  first  sight,  perhaps,  but 
to  a  deeper  consideration  revealing  glimpses  of  a 
profound  inward  significance. 

How  happens  it,  now,  that  there  should  be  so 
many  geese  in  Saxon  villages  ?  Geese  will  grow 
as  readily  in  one  place  as  another ;  yet  here  are 
twice  as  many  geese,  in  proportion  to  the  human 
population,  as  elsewhere.  I  fear  there  must  be  an 
occult  vein  of  sympathy  between  them  and  their 
owners,  reaching  deeper  than  the  flavor  of  roast 
goose,  or  money  value,  can  justify ;  some  mutual 
consciousness  of  similar  dispositions.  Geese,  I  say, 
are  symbolic  of  self-seeking,  self-glorifying,  short- 
sighted, human  vanity;  and  where  geese  abound, 
such  vices  are  rife.  If  this  be  not  the  true  solution 
of  the  mystery,  the  sole  alternative  lies  in  the  fact 
that,  at  Strasbourg,  they  make  pate-de-fois-gras.  In 


48  SAXON   STUDIES. 

justice  to  the  theory,  I  must  admit  that  there  are 
at  least  half  as  many  pigeons  as  geese  in  Saxony. 
These  I  take  pleasure  in  construing  as  representa- 
tive of  the  love  of  mothers  for  their  babies,  and 
the  innocent  thoughts  of  the  babies  themselves. 
If  we  must  have  pies,  let  us  fatten  pigeons  rather 
than  geese. 


DRESDEN  ENVIRONS.  49 


IX. 

A  NOTICEABLE  quietness  pervades  these  villages; 
as  though  they  had  dropt  asleep  ages  ago,  not  to 
awaken  in  this  century  at  any  rate.  The  houses 
stand  voiceless  like  empty  shells,  and  the  narrow 
road  wanders  lonely  between  them.  The  inhabit- 
ants are  abroad  in  Dresden,  in  the  fields,  where- 
ever  their  work  may  have  taken  them.  Within 
the  village  limits  remain  only  those  who  are  either 
too  old  or  to  young  to  be  away :  these,  with  the 
proprietor  of  the  Gasthaus,  and  a  shopkeeper  or 
two,  are  all. 

But  even  were  every  one  at  home,  we  should 
never  see  anything  resembling  the  omnipresent 
activity  of  a  New  England  or  Western  village. 
They  are  born  quiet  —  these  people  :  —  a  Saxon 
baby  has  but  little  cry  in  him  and  no  persistent 
noisiness.  In  infancy  he  is  stiffened  out  in  swad- 
dling-clothes, and  lives  between  two  feather  pillows, 
like  an  oyster  in  his  shell :  moving  only  his  pale 
bluish  eyes  and  pasty  little  fingers.  A  greasy 
nursing-bottle  is  poking  itself  into  his  mouth  all 

3 


50  SAXON   STUDIES. 

day  long.  He  has  a  great,  hairless,  swelled  head, 
like  an  inflated  bladder.  His  first  appearance  out- 
doors is  made  in  a  basket- wagon,  planted  neck-deep 
amidst  his  pillows  ;  the  hood  of  the  wagon  being 
up  and  closely  blue-curtained.  Sometimes  he  rides 
double,  his  brother's  or  sister's  head  emerging  at 
the  opposite  end  of  the  little  vehicle.  They  sel- 
dom die  under  this  treatment :  indeed  even  a  soul 
would  find  difficulty  in  escaping  from  beneath  those 
feather  pillows,  and-  through  the  crevices  of  those 
close-drawn  blue  curtains.  When  they  have  colic 
(but  they  seldom  muster  energy  sufficient),  they 
uplift  a  meagre  cry,  as  though  aware  that  some- 
thing of  the  sort  would  be  expected  of  them.  But 
it  often  happens,  as  I  am  credibly  informed,  that 
they  must  be  dashed  with  cold  water  in  order  to 
bring  their  lungs  into  action.  A  dash  of  cold 
water  would  be  apt  to  produce  a  spasm  in  a  Saxon 
of  whatever  age. 

Thus  early  begins  the  subjection  to  law  and 
custom.  When  the  child  gets  to  be  thirty  inches 
high,  or  thereabouts,  it  is  sent  to  school  ;  whither 
it  paces  temperately,  with  little  noise  ;  racing, 
horse-laughing,  and  all  disorder  are  tacitly  discour- 
aged. The  little  girls  link  arms  and  gossip  as 
they  go;  while  the  boys  march  soldier-like  with 
their  small  knapsacks,  precocious  in  discipline  and 


DRESDEN   ENVIRONS.  51 

conservatism.  When  the  play  hour  comes,  they 
engage  in  a  mutually  suspicious  manner,  as  though 
self-conscious  of  hypocrisy  and  make-believe. 

By  and  by  they  grow  up,  —  more  of  them  than 
would  be  supposed.  But  the  habit  of  following 
authority  and  precedent  in  all  concerns  of  life 
grows  with  them.  They  will  never  feel  quite  safe 
about  blowing  their  noses,  until  they  have  seen 
the  written  law  concerning  that  ceremony,  signed 
and  sealed  by  the  king,  and  countersigned  by 
Prince  Bismarck.  They  swim  everywhere  in  the 
cork-jacket  of  Law ;  and,  should  it  fail  them, 
flounder  and  siuk  :  or  even  lose  their  heads  and 
are  betrayed  into  some  folly  which  helps  them  to 
the  bottom. 

It  is  that  early  experience  of  swaddling  and 
feather-pillowing,  I  suppose,  which  implants  in  all 
Saxons  their  sleepless  dread  of  a  draught.  I  fancy 
their  very  coffins  must  be  made  more  air-tight 
than  other  people's,  and  that  the  sod  must  be 
pressed  down  more  closely  over  their  graves.  Sum- 
mer or  winter,  nothing  will  hire  a  Saxon  to  sit 
beneath  an  open  window,  to  stay  in  the  same  room 
with  an  open  window,  or  to  sleep  with  an  open 
window  in  the  house.  Why  windows  in  Saxony 
were  made  to  open,  is  a  mystery.  The  Saxon 
turns  up  his  coat  collar  and  glares  intolerant  at 


52  SAXON   STUDIES. 

the  mere  rattling  of  a  window-sash.  He  will  risk 
a  broken  head  in  the  cause  of  bad  air.  The  at- 
mosphere of  the  lecture-rooms  in  schools  and  uni- 
versities, lies  thick  and  foul  as  stagnant  water. 
Those  rooms  are  atmospheric  sewers,  with  no  out- 
let. If  you  become  giddy  and  nauseated  with  this 
breathing-material,  you  must  "seek  relief  out  of 
doors  ;  no  fresh  air  may  trespass  on  the  hallowed 
impurity  of  the  interior. 

As  might  be  imagined,  such  lung-food  as  this 
gets  the  native  complexion  into  no  enviable  state: 
in  fact,  until  I  had  examined  for  myself  the  mixt- 
ure of  paste  and  blotches  which .  here  passes  for 
faces,  I  had  not  conceived  what  were  the  capacities 
for -evil  of  the  human  skin.  I  have  heard  it  said 
—  inconsiderately  —  that  the  best  side  of  a  Saxon 
was  his  outside :  that  the  more  deeply  one  pene- 
trated into  him,  the  more  offensive  he  became. 
But  I  think  the  worst  damnation  that  the  owner 
of  one  of  these  complexions  could  be  afflicted  with, 
would  be  the  correspondence  of  his  interior  with 
his  exterior  man. 

The  Saxon  can  no  more  be  influenced  to  mod- 
eration in  this  matter,  than  the  wind  can  be  per- 
suaded not  to  blow.  His  argument  declares  that 
a  cold  is  more  to  be  dreaded  than  poison,  and  in- 
fluenza than  a  two-edged  sword.  Whereas,  at 


DRESDEN   ENVIRONS.  53 

worst,  an  influenza  can  but  kill;  but  foul  air 
means  diseased  life.  It  is  surely  better  to  die  in 
-the  freedom  of  the  mountains,  than  to  exist  in 
however  luxurious  a  polluted  room.  Nevertheless, 
the  Saxon  does  not  merely  endure  pollution,  —  he 
likes  it  —  and  it  likes  him. 

It  is  an  ill-built,  ill-favored  race,  and  of  an  un- 
healthy constitution.  As  for  the  soldiers,  they  are 
in  all  respects  a  forced  product;  compelled  to  ex- 
ertion and  hardship  so  long  as  their  term  of  ser- 
vice lasts,  they  make  up  for  it  by  dying  early. 
They  are  machines,  working  marvellously  while 
the  driver's  hand  is  over  them ;  then  coming  to  a 
rusty  standstill  forever. 

Despite  their  closeness  within  doors,  in  summer 
the  Saxons  much  affect  the  open  air.  They  will 
sit  all  day  beneath  the  beer-garden  trees.  Yet 
do  they  return,  without  sigh  or  shudder,  to  their 
atmospheric  styes  at  night.  And  they  seem  to 
carry  their  atmosphere  about  with  them.  Meeting 
a  party  of  them  on  the  breeziest  summit  of  the 
Saxon  Switzerland,  anon  we  have  a  subtile  remi- 
'  niscence  of  stale  tobacco  and  beer.  Is  there  noth- 
ing in  the  souls  of  this  people  congenial  to  the 
fair  and  pure  influences  of  nature?  They  admire 
—  who  more  vociferously?  a  fine  view  or  pictu- 
resque vista.  Howbeit,  the  very  fact  of  their  being 


54  SAXON  STUDIES. 

able  glibly  to  utter  profundities,  casts  a  sinister 
suspicion  upon  the  genuineness  of  their  title-deeds 
to  them.  What  true  lover  of  nature,  should  she 
in  a  fortunate  hour  reveal  her  beauty  to  him, 
would  not  blush  and  stammer  in  the  attempt  to 
compliment  her  to  her  face?  She  abashes  his 
praise  to  silence.  That  eloquent  stanza  which,  as 
he  sat  at  home,  seemed  to  him  the  full  utterance 
of  the  best  his  eyes  could  discover,  shrinks  now 
from  his  lips,  and  shows  pale  and  vulgar.  He 
must  turn  his  back  upon  living  nature,  and  forget 
the  better  part  of  her,  before  he  can  remember 
her  eulogies  aright. 

Not  so  the  Saxon,  who  not  only  delights  to 
wear  his  heart  upon  her  sleeve,  but  is  himself  the 
daw  that  pecks  at  it.  He  loudly  approves  that 
which  transcends  approval.  The  pure  and  chaste 
loveliness  of  nature,  which  should  be  viewed  only 
reverently  and  in  silence,  he  levels  with  the  mere- 
tricious allurements  of  a  harlot,  which  every  char- 
latan may  canvass  with  praise  or  blame.  And, 
such  is  the  bad  power  of  this  low  spirit,  the  true 
lover's  reverence  is  disturbed,  and  he  is  vexed 
with  a  miserable  suspicion  of  that  sanctity  which 
he  had  fancied  secure  from  all  base  approach. 
But  in  truth  it  is  no  mysticism  to  say  that  the 
essential  nature  is  in  each  man's  soul ;  it  is  the 


DRESDEN   ENVIRONS.  55 

soul,  and  the  soul's  mood,  which  quickens  and 
colors  her ;  and  womanlike,  she  changes  with  our 
change. 

The  Saxon's  sentimentalism  is  vitiated  by  his 
moral  and  physical  ill-health.  He  is  continually 
doing  things  false  in  harmony,  and  incomprehensi- 
ble, as  all  discord  is.  Who  but  he  can  -sit  through 
a  symphony  of  Beethoven's,  applauding  its  majes- 
tic movements  with  the  hand  which  has  just  car- 
ried to  his  lips  a  mug  of  beer,  and  anon  returns 
thither  with  a  slice  of  sausage  ?  It  seems  as  'if  no 
length  of  practice  could  marry  this  gross,  everlast- 
ing feeding,  to  any  profound  appreciation  of  music. 
He  frowns  down  the  laughter  of  a  child,  the  whis- 
pering of  a  pair  of  lovers,  as  disturbing  the  per- 
formance :  but  the  clatter  of  knife  and  fork,  the 
champing  of  jaws  —  offends  him  not.  He  seems 
to  recognize  the  noble  beauty  of  the  theme;  he 
nods  and  rolls  his  eyes  at  the  sublimer  strains. 
Does  he  comprehend  them?  He  reminds  me  of 
that  class  of  people,  who,  indeed,  possess  the  Bible ; 
who  peruse  it  daily,  and  can  repeat  much  of  it  by 
heart ;  and  who  yet  have  never  read  so  much  as  a 
single  line  of  the  word  of  God. 


56  SAXON   STUDIES, 


X. 

WE  have  wandered  through  the  village,  its  ex- 
treme outpost  is  behind  us,  and  we  tread  once 
more  upon  the  smooth,  white  highway.  The  road 
is  lined  on  both  sides  by  interminable  rows  of 
trees,  defining  its  course  when  itself  is  out  of  sight. 
There  are  cherry,  apple,  and,  less  often,  poplar 
trees.  On  the  whole,  the  effect  is  tiresome.  I  do 
not  like  to  see  my  path  marked  out  before  me. 
Moreover,  I  am  kept  perpetually  in  mind  of  the 
nearness  of  mankind.  Each  tree  was  planted  by  a 
man ;  and,  if  it  happen  to  be  a  fruit  tree,  men 
must  often  visit  it.  The  road  itself,  to  be  sure, 
is  also  man's  handiwork.  But  it  does  not  obtrude 
itself ;  at  most  it  is  but  the  amplification  of  a 
natural  pathway,  and  so  falls  quietly  in  with  the 
order  of  nature  —  provided  only  it  be  not  too  im- 
raitigably  straight. 

It  is  a  noticeable  trait  of  this  country  —  the  im- 
possibility of  getting  beyond  e very-day  limits. 
There  .is  no  seclusion,  whereof  we  may  feign  our- 
selves the  first  invaders,  and,  as  such,  secure  from 


DRESDEN   ENVIRONS.  57 

pursuit  or  encounter.  There  is  no  profound  wild- 
ness,  even  where  the  surroundings  seem  least  tame. 
The  woods  are  supervised  by  foresters,  in  green 
uniforms  t  and  glazed  caps,  who  take  care  that  the 
trees  shall  be  planted  in  straight  lines,  and  affix 
its  label  to  every  tenth  trunk.  Who  but  a  hypo- 
crite would  pretend  to  lose  himself  in  a  forest,  all 
whose  trees  were  numbered  ?  Nay,  in  some  places 
(the  royal  park  for  instance)  are  certain  respect- 
able-looking old  vegetables,  which  no  one  would 
suspect  of  such  enormity,  which  are  provided  with 
names  and  titles  into  the  bargain.  We  may  find 
them  set  forth  in  the  forester's  book  thus  :  "  No. 
27.  Oak.  Heinrich  the  Stout."  "No.  28.  Elm. 
Karl  the  Long-legged."  What  is  to  happen  to  a 
people  who  can  do  such  things  as  this  ? 

We  cannot  fly  beyond  the  possibility  of  a  Saxon, 
so  long  as  we  remain  in  Saxony.  No  matter  where 
we  are,  he  has  been  there  just  before  us ;  and 
hark !  his  step  approaches  from  behind.  Yonder 
thickly-wooded  dell,  for  instance,  seems  the  abode  of 
nymphs  and  hamadryads,  unprofaned  as  yet  by  any 
human  presence.  Virgin  moss  yields  beneath  our 
feet ;  we  hear  Arcadian  twitterings  of  birds.  The 
bare  exterior  world  is  shut  out  and  forgotten.  We 
listen  for  the  light  step  of  the  wild  nymph  amidst 
the  bushes,  and  scan  closely  the  rough  bark  which 


58  SAXON   STUDIES. 

seems  ready  to  start  asunder  at  the  magic  pressure 
of  the  hamadryad's  finger. 

Anon,  however,  we  strike  a  path  leading  to  the 
nymph's  grot  —  't  is  a  smartly  painted  beer-cabin, 
with  square,  yellow,  wooden  chairs  and  tables.  The 
nymph  and  the  hamadryad,  in  soiled  petticoats  and 
rolled  up  sleeves,  are  scrubbing  the  floor  and  win- 
dow ;  while  Pan  stands  yonder  in  a  swallow-tailed 
coat,  with  a  napkin  under  his  arm,  and  answers  to 
the  title  of  Kellner.  Bring  your  best  beer,  waiter, 
and  draw  it  cool.  We  need  refreshment ! 

I  know  few  spots  more  beautifully  unkempt 
than  is  a  certain  rocky  pass  in  the  Saxon  Switzer- 
land. The  steep  sides  are  rank  with  mossy  verd- 
ure—  cool  and  moist  with  trickling  springs.  Ten- 
der ferns  bend  greenly  athwart  dark  backgrounds 
of  stony  clefts.  Beside  the  rugged  pathway  bub- 
bles over  rocks  the  glancing  soul  of  a  cold  brook. 
High  up,  the  slope  whispers  with  thick-growing 
pines,  mingled  with  trees  of  less  austere  foliage. 
Highest  of  all,  gray  crags  crowd  abrupt  and  angu- 
lar against  the  sky,  and  cast  jagged  shadows  on 
the  opposite  steep.  Listening  closely,  we  hear  only 
the  brook,  and  the  pines,  and  a  dapper  bird  or 
two,  and  a  torrid  hum  of  invisible  insects. 

But,  looking  again  at  that  immemorial  battlement 
which  the  siege  of  centuries  has  so  grandly  scarred, 


DRESDEN   ENVIRONS.  59 

we  see  painted,  just  at  its  base,  a  spruce  white 
square,  on  which  is  recorded  in  accurately  formed 
letters  and  numerals,  White  and  red,  the  position 
of  this  point  relatively  to  the  Government  Survey 
Base  Line,  and  its  elevation  in  metres  above  the 
mean  level  of  the  North  Sea.  Immediately  the 
secluded  pass  seems  peopled  with  the  shapes  of 
Saxon  engineers,  uniformed  and  equipped.  Those 
pines  were  set  out,  at  so  much  per  dozen,  by  the 
king's  landscape  gardeners,  who,  likewise,  grouped 
the  rocks  by  aid  of  a  steam  derrick.  The  brook 
was  a  happy  after-thought  ;  but  owing  to  the 
scarcity  of  water,  it  runs  only  ^during  the  season. 
There  is  a  model  in  plaster  of  our  entire  surround- 
ings in  the  Engineers'  Bureau,  with  a  pin  sticking 
in  the  very  spot  where  we  now  stand.  I  repeat 
there  is  no  escape.  The  presence  of  man  journeys 
with  us  like  the  horizon,  go  we  never  so  fast  or 
far. 

Indeed,  there  are  the  stone-breakers,  who  take 
up  their  abode  along  our  whole  line  of  march. 
They  are  a  class  by  themselves  ;  I  cannot  imagine 
their  following  any  other  profession.  They  are 
mostly  time-gnawed  old  fellows,  whose  bones  seem 
to  have  been  cracked  long  ago  by  their  own  ham- 
mers. They  wear  great  goggles  of  wire-gauze,  which 
give  them  an  impressive  air  of  gloomy  cadaverous- 


60  SAXON   STUDIES. 

ness.  A  huge  wooden-soled  shoe  protects  their  foot 
from  stray  knocks.  On  frequented  roads  a  canvas 
screen  is  set  up,  to  protect  the  passer  by  from  fly- 
ing stone-sparks.  We  hear  the  dull  intermittent 
beat  and  crack,  but  see  only  the  head  of  the 
hammer  as  it  rises  occasionally  above  the  screen 
for  a  harder  stroke. 

The  men  seem  to  take  an  interest  even  in  such 
work  as  this.  An  extra  hard  bit  of  stone  arouses 
their  combative  instinct ;  and  they  have  a  sensation 
of  pleasure  when  a  fragment  divides  into  pieces  of 
the  proper  size  and  shape  ;  while,  if  it  weakly  crum- 
ble, they  damn  it  with  contempt.  Thus  with  their 
hammers  do  they  sound  the  whole  gamut  of  the 
emotions.  Occasionally  they  pause  from  labor, 
straighten  their  stiff  old  backs,  and  glance  at  the 
sun,  to  see  how  far  he  is  from  dinner  time.  -  Be- 
fore falling  to  work  again,  they  look  critically  at 
their  next  neighbor's  stone  pile,  and  exchange  a 
grunt  or  two  with  him.  Like  other  world-toilers, 
they  sometimes  think  themselves  hardly  used  —  the 
sport  of  fortune,  and  grumble  that  they  would 
have  done  better  as  watchmakers,  or  painters  on 
porcelain.  In  point  of  fact,  however,  stone-break- 
ing is  all  they  care  about  on  earth,  and,  were  they 
compelled  to  forego  it,  they  would  break  their  old 
hearts  in  default.  Even  and  regular  stand  their 


DRESDEN  ENVIRONS.  01 

stone-heaps,  end  to  end,  and  each  is  provided  with 
its  number,  painted  on  a  larger  piece  of  flat  rock. 
Labelling  and  classification  is  carried  thus  far,  in 
Saxony  ;  and  I  cannot  kick  a  pebble  from  my  path 
•without  more  or  less  disorganizing  the  schemes  of 
the  Government  at  Berlin. 


02  SAXON   STUDIES. 


XI. 

I  AM  continually  oppressed  with  the  idea  that 
immeasurable  possibilities  for  fine  scenery  are  wasted 
in  Saxony.  The  Saxon  Switzerland  is  to  be  sure 
as  picturesque  as  could  be  desired.  But  it  is  an 
abrupt  topographical  anomaly,  uprearing  itself  in  a 
reactionary  manner  out  of  a  tedious  extent  of  plain. 
From  a  great  distance  we  see  the  vast  square-built 
rocks  lifting  their  shoulders  a  thousand  or  twelve 
hundred  feet  skyward  ;  they  seem  to  own  no  rela- 
tionship to  the  silly  fields  that  smile  at  their  feet, 
— no  sympathy  either  of  form  or  substance.  I  find 
a  shrewd  correspondence  between  this  typograph- 
ical anomaly,  and  that  mental  one  which  uplifts, 
above  the  low  level  of  ordinary  German  intelli- 
gence, the  enduring  group  of  cloud-capped  giants 
which  has  given  the  land  its  reputation. 

Why  so  flat  and  tedious,  O  Saxony  ?  as  though 
some  enormous  incubus  had  for  ages  been  rollincr 

O  O 

its  heavy  length  across  your  unfortunate  face,  till 
every  feature  was  obliterated.  Is  there  any  rem- 
edy ?  I  see  none,  short  of  a  general  eruption, 


DRESDEN   ENVIRONS.  63 

whereby  the  whole  surface  might  be  broken  up  in 
volcanoes,  and  become  a  Switzerland  indeed.  And 
may  the  physical  upheaval  be  prophetic  of  a  moral 
one.  It  is  of  significance  that  mountainous  tracts 
are  generally  inclined  to 'freedom. 

However,  the  country  is  not  flat  in  the  prairie 
fashion.  It  appears  so  only  as  the  eye  sweeps 
it  from  a  distance.  But,  traversing  the  seeming 
plain,  we  find  it  everywhere  seamed  by  narrow 
gullies,  in  which  the  villages  lie ;  so  that  it  were 
better  described  as  an  agglomeration  of  low  table- 
lands. Beautifully  verdant  they  are  in  spring  and 
in  summer,  and  pleasingly  variegated  with  squares 
of  many-tinted  grain  and  produce.  Moreover,  there 
is  an  extraordinary  abundance  of  wild-flowers,  — 
rather  an  abundance  than  a  variety.  I  have  seen 
tracts  of  seven  acres  actually  carpeted  with  pansies, 
whose  myriad  little  faces  show  at  a  distance  like  a 
purple  haze.  Amidst  the  green  young  wheat  .grow 
deep  azure  corn-flowers  and  scarlet  poppies ;  an 
armful  might  be  gathered  in  a  few  minutes.  The 
banks  of  country  lanes  are  often  blue  with  hare- 
bells ;  and  anon  we  pass  great  clover-meadows, 
humming  with  bees.  This  commonness  of  beauty 
perhaps  mars  that  finer  enjoyment  which  needs 
rarity  as  the  finishing  flavor.  Nevertheless  it  af- 
fords a  broad,  triumphant  satisfaction. 


64  SAXON   STUDIES. 

A  more  concrete  taste  may  be  gratified  by  the 
cherries,  — a  staple  produce  of  Dresden  neighbor- 
hoods. In  spring,  so  thick  are  the  blossoms,  the 
trees  resemble  white  branching  coral ;  but  the  per- 
fume is  faint,  as  is  likewise  the  flavor  of  the  fruit 
itself.  Flavor  or  not,  they  are  agreeable  eating  in 
warm  weather,  and  cheap  enough  to  tempt  to  im- 
prudence. We  may  sit  on  the  bench  beside  the 
cherry-booth,  and  see  our  plateful  gathered  from 
the  tree  over  our  heads ;  or,  for  a  consideration, 
mount  the  tree  ourselves,  and  work  our  will  upon 
it.  The  cherries  are  of  all  kinds  and  colors,  from 
black  to  white,  and  are  recommended  by  the  ven- 
dor as  good  for  the  blood.  We  devour  them, 
therefore,  with  the  self-complacency  of  a  health- 
seeker  added  to  the  palatal  enjoyment ;  and  were 
it  not  that  they  are  dismally  apt  to .  be  wormy, 
our  pleasure  would  be  without  alloy. 

Agreeably  suggestive  are  the  booths  themselves, 
—  little  board  huts,  planted  in  the  green  midstx  of 
the  cherry  country.  The  season  lasts  from  the  end 
of  June  on  into  August,  —  the  mellowest  slice  of 
the  year ;  and  if  enjoyment  of  nature  be  ever 
unconsciously  possible,  the  cherry-people  must  be 
happy.  Material  cares  they  have  none,  for  their 
business  can  lose  them  nothing,  and  is  apt  to  pay 
them  well.  Each  merchant  hires  a  number  of 


DRESDEN  ENVIRONS.  65 

trees  for  the  season,  paying  a  percentage,  —  not  on 
what  they  bear,  but  on  what  he  sells.  The  only 
danger  for  him  is  a  total  failure  of  the  cherry 
yield,  in  which  case  he  would  be  liable  for  ground- 
rent  ;  but  this  occurs  only  thrice  a  lifetime. 

The  booth  contains  a  single  room,  in  which  sleep 
the  merchant  and  his  family,  like  caterpillars  in  a 
web.  The  cooking-stove  is  wisely  put  outside  on 
the  grass,  and  the  interior  thus  kept  free  from 
smoke  and  heat.  The  wife  sits  in  the  doorway 
nursing  the  baby,  while  the  other  children,  who  are 
incredibly  dirty,  but  all  the  happier  therefor,  play 
together  in  a  desultory  way,  or  tease  a  cross- 
grained  cur,  who  is  always  an  outspoken  foe  of  in- 
tending customers.  At  noon,  when  the  baby  go.es 
to  sleep,  mamma  gets  dinner ;  the  family  gather 
together ;  in  the  afternoon  the  man  smokes  his 
pipe ;  and  so  the  day  passes  on. 

Delightful  —  all  this:  the  leisure;  the  trees,  be- 
neath whose  shade  we  sit,  all  the  time  working  for 
us  and  supporting  us  ;  the  amusement  of  watching 
our  guests,  —  their  various  fashions  of  eating,  their 
remarks  and  questions,  their  discontent  or  satisfac- 
tion, their  manner  of  payment  and  of  departure. 
With  what  independence  would  we  prepare  our 
noonday  meal,  and  how  appetizing  a  fragrance 
would  go  up  from  our  fried  trout  and  our  bacon 
5 


66  SAXON   STUDIES. 

and  greens.  Then  light  we  the  after-dinner  pipe, 
whose  blue  smoke  ascends  skywards,  through  the 
green  leaves  of  the  tree  beneath  which  we  recline. 
At  night,  how  comfortable  to  lie  on  our  matting, 
amidst  the  country  hush,  hearing  the  summer  winds 
come  soft-footed  up  the  valley  and  pause  at  our  win- 
dow ;  occasional  cherries  dropping,  over-ripe,  with  a 
gentle  pat  on  the  roof  above ;  half-conscious,  during 
the  night,  of  the  whispering  passage  of  a  shower; 
to  fall  asleep,  secure  in  the  watchfulness  of  the  dog 
on  the  threshold ;  to  dream  of  Arcadian  shepherd- 
esses ;  to  awake,  fresh,  in  the  early  morning,  gather 
betimes  our  basket  of  fruit,  and  sit  down  to  await 
our  first  customer.  But  I  suppose  the  real  life, 
especially  when  there  are  babies,  does  not  run  on 
quite  so  unexceptionably.  A  prolonged  rain,  or  a 
wind  perverse  enough  to  blow  the  smoke  in  at  the 
hut  door,  would  impair  our  ideal  humor. 


DRESDEN   ENVIRONS.  67 


XII. 

WE  must  turn  our  steps  homeward  ;  at  yonder 
crossing  is  a  _guide-post,  which  should  tell  us  our 
way,  and  the  distance.  Small  risk  of  getting  lost 
in  Saxony,  if  guide-posts  can  prevent  it ;  though 
their  usefulness  is  sometimes  impaired  by  the  il- 
legibility of  the  names  inscribed  upon  them ;  the 
"  nach  "  is  the  only  part  of  the  direction  which  is 
always  distinct.  Nor  are  the  estimates  of  distances 
often  of  much  service,  especially  when  couched  in 
terms  of  "  Stunde."  Theoretically,  two  Stuude  go 
to  a  German  mile  ;  but  in  practice,  they  vary  as 
the  length  of  various  men's  legs.  What  is  an 
hour's  walk  for  one,  another  may  accomplish  in 
half  the  time  ;  and  a  dim  recognition  of  some  such 
fact  has  led  the  people  to  qualify  their  Stunde  by 
an  array  of  adjectives,  which  complicate  if  they  do 
not  relieve  the  difficulty.  The  government  mile- 
stones, however,  are  distinct  from  the  guide-posts, 
—  are  a  newer  institution,  and  as  rigidly  accurate 
as  their  elder  brethren  are  lax.  Solid  and  orderly 
are  they,  arched  over  the  top,  and  consecrated  with 


68  SAXON   STUDIES. 

the  government  monogram.  They  look  like  grave- 
stones, beneath  which  we  may  fancy  the  particular 
mile  recorded  on  them  to  be  interred.  German 
miles  are  so  long,  that  we  never  get  on  such  famil- 
iar terms  with  these  mile-stones  as  we  do  with  Eng- 
lish ones  ;  and  the  decimal  fractions  are  a  sore  trial 
of  friendly  forbearance. 

As  we  descend  the  slope  towards  Dresden,  the 
long  panorama  is  rich  with  peaceful  beauty.  There 
rise  the  spires  and  domes,  mellowed  by  the  western 
sun ;  the  white-gleaming  river ;  the  farther  shore 
dotted  with  white  villas ;  the  pine-shaded  horizon  ; 
and,  wide  and  high  above  all,  the  grand  phantas- 
magory  of  cloudland.  It  is  in  this  point  of  cloud- 
scenery  that  Dresden  surpasses  all  places  I  have 
seen.  The  time  will  some  day  come,  after  we 
have  learnt  to  travel  by  telegraph,  and  have  be- 
come familiar  to  satiety  with  terrestrial  beauty, 
that  there  will  be  pilgrimages,  not  to  the  Alps 
and  to  Niagara,  but  to  the  land  of  superbest 
clouds.  Clouds  never  can  become  hackneyed,  for 
their  forms  and  tints  are  infinite,  and  no  Murray 
or  Baedeker  can  lay  down  rules  and  usages  about 
seeing  them.  In  any  true  sense  of  the  word, 
they  are  indescribable,  —  save  by  lady-novelists, 
new  to  their  profession,  whose  ideas  are  apt  to  be 
cloudy.  In  every  way  they  are  the  most  elevating 


DRESDEN   ENVIRONS.  69 

part  of  nature,  —  entrapping  our  eyes  at  the  horizon, 
and  leading  them  zenith-ward.  Without  clouds,  the 
bare,  blue,  unchanging  sky  would  become  intolera- 
ble. Man  cannot  bear  unmitigated  heaven,  any 
more  than  he  can  do  without  clothes.  Clouds  are 
the  garments  of  the  sky,  and  each  new  costume 
seems  fittest  of  all.  Throughout  the  world  it  is 
the  garment  that  is  beautiful.  Trees  have  their 
leaves,  rocks  their  moss,  soil  its  grass,  the  earth  its 
blue  atmosphere,  the  atmosphere  its  clouds. 

These  vapory  mountains  quite  outdo  their  solider 
rivals,  but  inspire  the  imagination  with  promise  of 
celestial  prototypes  yet  fairer  than  they.  With  their 
unlimited  range  of  form  and  shade,  they  may  arouse 
all  sentiments  from  grotesque  to  sublime.  And  they 
prepare  the  untravelled  mind  for  all  the  best  that 
earth  can  show.  No  alps,  no  castles  by  the  sea,  no 
palaces  in  Spain,  can  surprise  him  who  from  his  own 
house-door  has  seen  the  sun  set.  And  not  the  trav- 
eller only,  but  the  wit,  the  humorist,  the  student  of 
character,  may  find  stimulus  for  thought  and  food 
for  reflection  in  the  clouds,  —  find  his  noblest  fancies 
outdone,  his  completest  theories  proved  inadequate. 
.But  how  is  this?  Yonder  celestial  cloud-pinnacle, 
up  whose  steep  acclivity  our  high-flown  thought  was 
clambering,  has  subtly  sculptured  from  its  facile 
substance  a  set  of  demoniac  features,  which  twist 


70  SAXON   STUDIES. 

themselves  into  a  sardonic  grimace  of  mockery  at 
our  enthusiasm.  Our  parting  digression  has  carried 
us  too  far ;  we  must  get  back  once  more  to  the  sober 
highway.  But  we  return,  also,  to  the  opinion  which  - 
has  accompanied  us  throughout  our  day's  ramble, — 
that  the  solidest  attractions  of  Dresden  and  its  sub- 
urbs are  the  impalpablest  ones,  and  the  least  de- 
scribable.  If  so  it  be,  the  Saxons  need  not  repine. 
Only  the  baser  part  of  things  is  communicable ;  and 
doubtless  the  pleasanter  features  of  the  Garden  of 
Eden  are  those,  whereof  no  tradition  has  come 
down  to  us. 


OF   GAMBRINUS. 


CHAPTER  II. 

OF  GAMBRINUS. 
I. 

LIFE  is  a  tissue  of  mysteries.  One  is,  that  if 
the  feelings  be  touched  the  palate  never  complains. 
An  egg,  hard-boiled  over  the  fire  of  the  affections, 
outdoes  an  omelette  by  Savarin.  A  half -pint  of 
schnapps  poured  into  an  earthen  mug  by  the 
hand  of  the  affections,  has  a  finer  aroma  than  old 
wine  in  crystal  goblets,  less  finely  presented.  Or 
what  rude  bench,  cushioned  by  the  emotions  is  not 
softer  than  satin  and  eider-down  ?  The  spiritual 
not  only  commands  the  sensual,  —  it  may  be  said 
to  create  it.  The  banquets  of  the  gods  are  divine 
only  in  so  far  as  they  harmonize  the  two.  This  is 
the  whole  secret  of  nectar  and  ambrosia. 

The  theme  so  expands  beneath  the  pen,  that  we 
were  best  bring  it  to  a  head  at  once.  Suffice  it 
introduces  us  to  the  modest  establishment  of  Frau 
Schmidt,  just  beyond  the  outer  droschky  limits,  a 
favorite  resort  of  mine,  though  better  beer,  easier 
chairs,  and  more  accessible  sites  be  discoverable  else- 


74  SAXON   STUDIES. 

where.  I  cannot  baffle  the  reader's  insight  —  the 
outweighing  attraction  is  Frau  Schmidt  herself. 
Yet  she  is  not  a  widow,  —  nay,  she  is  fonder  of 
her  husband  than  is  the  case  with  most  Saxon 
women ;  and  he  is  really  quite  a  fine  fellow. 
Moreover,  her  personal  charms  are  not  bewildering. 
She  appears  before  us  a  gray-clad  little  woman, 
with  plain,  pleasant,  patient  visage,  and  low,  re- 
spectful voice  :  she  puts  down  our  schoppen  of  beer 
on  our  accustomed  table  near  the  window,  smiles  a 
neutral-tinted  little  smile  of  welcome,  and  we  pass 
the  compliments  of  the  day.  Twice  or  thrice  dur- 
ing our  stay  she  returns  to  chat  with  us  ;  and  her 
big,  grave,  reticent  husband  stands  beside  her,  and 
puts  in  a  rumbling  word  or  two.  Anon  they  are 
off  to  serve  their  other  customers — mostly  common 
workmen  out  of  the  street,  thirsty,  rough  fellows, 
with  marvellous  garments  and  manners.  Evidently, 
the  spell  that  draws  us  hither  is  one  which  works 
beneath  the  surface.  Well,  we  are  not  going  to 
draw  aside  the  veil  just  yet.  Let  us  first  discuss 
our  meditative  beer :  in  the  dregs  of  the  last  glass, 
perhaps,  we  shall  find  the  secret  revealed. 

From  our  window  is  a  view  of  the  river  and  the 
town.  A  tree  rustles  in  the  little  front-yard :  be- 
yond curves  a  dusty  stretch  of  road.  It  is  about 
four  in  the  afternoon,  and  we  have  the  room 


OF   GAMBRINUS.  75 

almost  to  ourselves.  Till  sunset  we  will  sip,  and 
muse  and  moralize,  and  hold  converse  „  with  the 
spirit  of  the  great  Gambrinus.  Mighty  indeed,  is 
he !  Kings  and  emperors  may  talk,  but  to  Gam- 
brinus belongs  the  true  fealty  of  Germans.  We 
have  only  eulogy  for  him  —  his  is  a  spell  to  dis- 
arm ill-nature's  self.  He  is  author  of  the  most 
genial  liquor  in  the  world ;  his  wholesome  soul 
bubbles  in  every  foaming  glass  of  it.  We  could 
have  forgiven  Esau,  had  he  yielded  his  birthright 
for  a  glass  of  German  beer  ;  nor  would  himself 
have  regretted  the  exchange.  The  national  song  of 
Germany,  which  now  pretends  to  be  chiefly  concerned 
about  some  sentimental  "  Wacht  am  Rhein "  or 
other,  were  much  better  altered  as  follows  :  — 
"  Lieber  Land  !  Kannst  ruhig  sein  ; 
Fest  steht  und  treu  "  —  das  Bier-Verein. 

Try  we  a  mouthful  or  two ;  how  fresh,  how 
wholesomely  bitter  —  the  texture  how  fine  and 
frothy  !  mark  the  delicate  film  it  leaves  upon  the 
glass.  Lighter  than  English  ale,  of  a  less  pro- 
nounced but  more  lastingly  agreeable  flavor :  we 
tire  of  it  no  more  than  of  bread.  We  may  drink 
it  by  the  gallon ;  and  yet  a  little  will  go  a  long 
way.  It  seems  not  a  foreign  substance,  but  makes 
itself  immediately  at  home.  In  color  it  ranges 
from  brightest  amber  to  deepest  Vandyke  brown, 
and  in  strength  from  potent  Nuremberg  to  airy 


76  SAXON   STUDIES. 

Bohemian.  It  is  both  food  and  drink  to  many  a 
poor  devil,  whose  stomach  it  can  flatter  into  hy- 
pothecating a  meal.  To  be  sure,  an  unwelcome 
flabbiness  and  flatulence  will,  in  the  long  run,  re- 
veal the  deception.  Rightly  used,  however,  it 
makes  thirst  a  luxury. 

This  liquor  can  be  neither  brewed  nor  exported 
beyond  the  Father-land  ;  nay,  a  journey  of  but  a 
few  miles  from  its  birthplace  impairs  its  integrity. 
Why  —  is  a  romantic  and  poetical  enigma.  In 
America  the  brewing  is  more  elaborate  and  care- 
ful, but  the  result  is  nervous  and  heady.  The 
broad  Gambrinian  smile  becomes  a  wiry  grin,  or 
even  a  sour  dyspeptic  grimace.  If  exported,  no 
matter  with  what  care  of  cock  and  tinfoil,  ere  it 
can  reach  its  destination  some  subtle  magic  has 
conjured  away  the  better  part  of  it.  Et  coelum  et 
animam  mutat.  Gambrinus  has  laid  a  charm  upon 
it ;  it  is  the  life-blood  of  the  country,  and  shall 
not  flow  or  rise  in  alien  veins. 

A  profound  political  truth  is  symbolized  here,  if 
we  would  but  see  it ;  it  elucidates  the  subject  of 
emigration  and  the  effect  of  locality  on  tempera- 
ment. The  varieties  of  German  beer  are  innumera- 
ble ;  each  tastes  best  on  the  spot  where  it  was 
brewed ;  and  each  has  its  supporters  as  against  all 
others.  Now,  the  Berlin  Government  seems  de- 
sirous of  proving  (what  we  Americans  have  already 


OF   GAMBRINUS.  77 

proved  to  the  world's  satisfaction,  if  not  to  our 
own),  that  people  living,  no  matter  how  far  apart 
and  under  what  different  circumstances,  may  be 
united  in  mind,  sentiment,  and  disposition  as  one 
man.  To  this  end,  what  method  more  effective 
than  to  ordain  a  universal  beer,  and  forbid  the 
brewing  or  drinking  of  any  other  ?  Condense  into 
one  the  many  inconsiderable  principalities  of  Gam- 
brinus.  True,  though  men  can  apparently  be  in- 
duced by  the  proper  arguments  to  accommodate 
themselves  to  whatever  political  or  moral  exigen- 
cies, beer  is  of  a  more  intractable  temper,  and  per- 
sists in  being  different  in  different  places.  But 
surely  Prince  Bismarck,  who  can  do  so  much,  will 
not  be  beaten  by  a  beverage :  the  difficulty  will 
be  ultimately  overcome,  if  military  discipline  and 
legislation  be  worth  anything.  Two  alternatives 
suggest  themselves  at  once.  The  first,  to  create  a 
uniform  climate,  soil,  and  water,  throughout  the 
Father-land,  —  not  an  impossibility  to  German  sci- 
ence, I  should  suppose ;  the  second,  to  brew  the 
beer  nowhere  save  in  Berlin,  to  be  drunk  on  the 
premises.  Berlin  would  thus  be  secure  of  becom- 
ing the  centre  of  attraction  of  the  empire ;  and  if, 
as  is  believed,  Germans  are  Germans  by  virtue 
of  the  beer  they  drink,  if  all  drank  the  same  beer, 
of  course  they  all  would  become  the  same  Ger- 
mans. 


78  SAXON   STUDIES. 

Moreover,  if  this  may  be  done  with  the  nation, 
why  not  apply  the  principle  to  the  individual  ?  A 
nation  is  but  a  larger,  completer  man ;  and  if  a 
nation  may  be  concentrated  at  a  single  point,  as 
Berlin,  why  not  concentrate  the  persons  compos- 
ing it  into  a  single  individual,  as  Bismarck  ?  Hav- 
ing swallowed  his  countrymen,  the  prince  could 
thereafter  legislate  to  please  himself,  and  might 
ultimately  proceed  to  swallow  himself  into  a  uni- 
versal atom. 

Pending  these  improvements,  we  are  consoled 
with  the  reflection  that  there  are  advantages  con- 
nected with  the  undigested  form  impressed  upon 
men  and  states  by  their  original  Creator ;  for  ex- 
ample, there  is  much  entertainment  in  the  discus- 
sions between  various  beer-cliques  as  to  the  merit 
of  their  respective  beverages.  Saxons,  like  other 
people,  most  enjoy  disputes  the  least  important 
and  adjustable.  A  perverse  instinct,  no  doubt, 
but  universal,  is  that  of  asserting  the  worth  of  our 
own  opinion  and  individuality  against  all  comers. 
It  remains  to  hope,  that  Saxony,  and  Germany 
with  her  —  leading  the  world  in  other  departments 
of  civilization  —  may  before  long,  resolve  them- 
selves into  a  homogeneous  mass  —  according  to 
modern  lights,  the  only  true  form  of  union. 


OF   GAMBRINUS.  79 


II. 

ANOTHER  pull  at  our  schoppen :  we  must  avoid 
overheating  ourselves  with  transcendental  contro- 
versy. The  genius  of  beer  is  peaceful,  and  there 
is  a  mild  unobtrusive  efficacy  about  it  which  is  a 
marvel  in  its  way.  The  flavor,  although  highly 
agreeable,  does  not  take  the  palate  captive,  but 
introduces  itself  like  a  friend  of  old  standing;  the 
liquor  glides  softly  through  the  portals  of  the  gul- 
let, and  grows  ever  more  good-humored  on  the 
way  down.  We  swallow  a  mouthful  or  two,  and 
then  put  down  the  glass  to  pause  and  meditate. 
The  effect  upon  thoughts  is  peculiar  and  grateful. 
It  gently  anoints  them,  so  that  they  move  more 
noiselessly  and  sleekly,  getting  over  much  ground 
with  little  jar.  It  draws  a  transparent  screen  be- 
tween us  and  our  mental  processes  —  as  a  window 
shuts  out  the  noise  of  the  street  without  obstruct- 
ing our  view  of  what  is  going  on  there.  Upon  this 
screen  are  projected  luxurious  fancies,  coming  and 
going  we  know  not  whence  or  whither,  and  we 
become  lost  in  following  them.  Slight  matters 


80  SAXON   STUDIES. 

acquire  large  interest ;  with  what  profound  specu- 
lation do  we  mark  the  course  of  yonder  leaf  earth- 
wards floating  from  its  twig,  overweighted  by  the 
consideration  we  have  bestowed  on  it.  The  strik- 
ing of  a  church  clock,  a  mile  away,  echoes  through 
vast  halls  of  arched  fantasy.  The  babble  of  those 
good  people  at  a  neighboring  table  foregoes  dis- 
tinctive utterance,  and  is  resolved  into  a  dreamy 
refrain.  Our  own  voices  seem  to  come  from  far 
away ;  our  prosaic  thoughts  take  on  the  hues  of 
poetry  and  romance.  We  seem  to  chant  rather 
than  speak  our  sentences,  and  perceive  a  subtle 
melody  in  them.  We  feel  comfortable,  peaceful, 
yet  heroic  and  strong ;  surely  there  is  somewhat 
superb  and  grand  about  us,  which,  •  till  now,  has 
been  but  half  appreciated.  We  sit  full-orbed  and 
complete,  and  regard  our  fellow-men  with  the  sweet- 
tempered  contempt  of  superiority. 

That  peculiar  kind  of  friendliness  and  sociability 
which  distinguishes  Saxons  would  soon  languish  if 
deprived  of  its  inspiring  beer.  As  sun  to  earth  is 
their  beer  to  them  —  the  source  of  their  vitality. 
Colorless  and  bloodless  enough  were  they  without 
it.  If  Gambrinus  may  not  be  said  (such  an  as- 
sertion would  indeed  be  treasonable)  to  be  Ger- 
many's immediate  sovereign,  he  at  least  renders 
her  worth  being  sovereign  over.  It  is  well  to 


OF   GAMBRINUS.  81 

make  slaves  and  puppets  of  men ;  but  he  also  de- 
serves credit  who  gives  the  puppet  a  soul  to  be 
enslaved  with. 

Happy  Saxons !  have  they  themselves  an  ade- 
quate conception  of  the  part  beer  plays  in  their 
economy  —  of  the  degree  to  which  their  ideas  and 
acts  are  steeped  in  it  ?  Only  Germans  can  prop- 
erly be  said  to  possess  a  national  drink ;  beer 
takes  with  them  the  place  of  all  other  beverages  ; 
an  American  bar,  with  its  myriad  eye-openers  and 
stone- walls,  would  be  absurdly  out  of  place  here. 
The  Saxon's  palate  is  not  tickled  with  variety ;  one 
thing  suffices  him,  which  he  loves  as  he  loves  him- 
self—  because  it  has  become  a  part  of  him.  It  fas- 
cinates him,  not  as  aught  new  and  strange,  which 
might  be  potent  for  a  time,  but  eventually  palls. 
But  it  is  dear  to  him  as  are  the  ruddy  drops  which 
visit  his  sad  heart  —  a  steady,  perennial,  exclusive 
affection,  constant  as  his  very  selfishness.  Who 
calls  the  Saxon  cold  ?  is  there  any  devotion,  he 
asks,  warmer  than  mine  to  me? 

I  like  to  hear  him  call  for  his  beer  —  as  though 
he  had  been  wrongfully  separated  from  it,  and 
claimed  it  as  his  Saxon  birthright.  There  is  a  cer- 
tain half -concealed  complacency  in  his  tone,  too  ;  aris- 
ing partly  from  pleasurable  anticipation,  partly  from 
patriotic  pride  that  there  is  so  good  a  thing  to  call 


82  SAXON   STUDIES. 

for.  Having  got  it,  he  never  shows  to  such  ad- 
vantage as  with  it  in  his  hand  —  never  so  like  an 
apple  of  gold  in  a  picture  of  silver.  It  seems  a 
pity,  then,  that  he  should  ever  strive  to  be  aught 
sublimer  than  a  beer-drinker.  For  nothing  else  is 
he  so  fit;  nothing  else,  perhaps,  renders  him  so 
genial  and  happy ;  and  surely  there  are  many 
things  which  do  him  more  harm.  Gambrinus,  the 
mightiest  of  Germans,  not  only  did  nothing  else  — 
he  owes  his  greatness  to  that  fact.  Methinks  there 
is  deep  significance  in  the  story  how,  when  Satan 
called  to  claim  his  bargain,  the  German  Bacchus 
trusted  to  no  other  weapon  than  this  single  beer- 
drinking  faculty  of  his,  and  therewith  got  the  bet- 
ter of  his  enemy.  He  played  a  manly  part ;  a 
smaller  man  would  have  fallen  to  evasion,  forsak- 
ing his  true  stronghold  for  another  with  which  he 
was  unacquainted.  Gambrinus  succeeded,  as  do  all 
men  who  know  their  power  and  rely  upon  it. 
Doubtless,  he  might  have  wasted  his  time  in  mak- 
ing himself  a  fair  philosopher,  politician,  soldier, 
or  what  not ;  but  all  would  not  have  saved  him 
from  the  devil.  Saxons  —  here  is  food  for  reflec- 
tion. 

I  am  bound  to  admit,  however,  that  this  luxury, 
like  all  others,  may  be  indulged  in  to  imprudent 
lengths,  and  thereby  lead  to  consequences  anything 


OF   GAMBRINUS.  83 

but  peaceful  or  meditative.  A  legend  is  current 
of  a  certain  evil  demon,  Katzen jammer  by  name, 
who  is  as  hateful  as  Gambrinus  is  genial ;  and  it 
is  whispered  that  between  the  two  there  is  a  mys- 
terious and  awful  connection.  When  the  jovial 
monarch's  symposium  is  at  its  maddest  height, 
when  the  guests  are  merriest  and  the  liquor  most 
delicious  —  then  is  it  that  this  hideous  presence 
lurks  most  nigh.  The  lights  may  blaze  upon  the 
festive  board  ;  but  out  of  the  shadow  below,  and  in 
gloomy  alcoves,  here  and  there,  the  boon  compan- 
ions shudder  at  the  glimpse  of  his  ghastly  features. 
Those  who  have  met  him  face  to  face  (and  such 
men  live)  describe  him  as  sallow,  cadaverous,  blear- 
eyed,  and  unwholesome  :  his  countenance  overspread 
with  a  gray  despair,  as  of  a  creature  born  from  joy 
to  misery,  and  retaining,  in  his  wretchedness,  the 
memory  of  all  that  makes  life  sweet,  and  the 
yearning  for  it.  Moreover  —  and  this  is  perhaps 
the  grisliest  feature  of  the  legend  —  he  is  said  to 
bear  a  villainous  and  most  unaccountable  resem- 
blance to  Gambrinus  himself  ;  insomuch,  that  when 
encountered  the  morning  after  a  carousal,  the  be- 
holder can  scarce  free  himself  from  the  delusion 
that  it  is  Gambrinus's  self  he  sees — fearfully 
changed,  indeed,  yet  essentially  the  same.  I  fear 
there  is  some  disagreeable  secret  at  the  bottom  of 


84  SAXON   STUDIES. 

all  this,  and  that  poor  old  Ganibrinus  did  not 
quite  escape  the  devil's  claws,  after  all.  However, 
if  we  can  be  resolute  not  to  commit  ourselves  too 
far  with  the  god,  we  may  be  tolerably  secured 
against  falling  into  the  clutches  of  the  hobgoblin. 
Meanwhile,  excellent  Frau  Schmidt,  another  pint 
of  beer! 


OF   GAMBKINUS.  85 


III. 

WHAT  may  be  the  subtle  principle  according  to 
which  liquors  depend  for  their  flavor  upon  the 
form  and  fashion  of  the  vessel  from  which  they 
are  quaffed,  I  know  not  ;  but  certainly  German 
beer  should  be  drunk  only  from  the  schoppen.  For 
a  long  time  I  put  my  faith  in  an  Oxford  mug  of 
pewter  with  a  plate-glass  bottom  ;  but,  in  the  end, 
I  reverted  to  the  national  tankard,  with  its  mas- 
sive base,  its  scolloped  glass  sides,  and  its  lid  en- 
amelled with  pictures  and  mottoes.  The  i*est  of 
the  world  might  produce  port  glasses,  hock  glasses, 
sherry  glasses,  absinthe  glasses ;  it  was  reserved 
for  Germany  to  evolve  the  schoppen.  Whether 
Gambrinus  was  the  first  to  invent  it,  I  am  not 
precisely  informed,  but  am  inclined  to  consider  it 
a  supreme  product  of  our  modern  civilization. 

I  once  visited  the  Antiken  Sammlung  in  the 
Museum  of  the  Z winger  ;  and  judging  by  the  wild 
experiments  in  the  way  of  drinking-vessels  on  ex- 
hibition there,  I  should  have  thought  the  ancients 
must  half  the  time  have  been  in  doubt  what  they 


86  SAXON  STUDIES. 

were  swallowing.  There  were  elephants,  fishes,  Chi- 
nese pagodas,  legless  human  figures,  which,  unlike 
their  living  prototypes,  would  never  stand  upright 
even  when  they  were  empty  ;  huge  silver-mounted 
horns ;  ingenious  arrangements  to  rap  the  drinker's 
pate  if  he  spared  to  drink  all  at  a  draught,  or  to 
prick  his  tongue  if  he  drank  not  fast  enough. 
Some  goblets  there  were  of  the  capacity  of  seven 
quarts  —  so  the  guide  assured  me ;  and  he  added, 
in  a  quiet  tone,  that  the  mighty  ones  of  yore 
thought  nothing  of  emptying  these  without  drawing 
breath.  He  was  a  tall,  thin,  courteous,  amenable 
fellow  —  that  guide  —  yellow-eyed,  curly-bearded, 
with  hands  gloveless,  unclean,  and  very  cold. 
Near  at  hand  stood  a  marble  bust  of  Washington, 
placid,  respectable,  and  rather  dirty.  How  often 
had  he  heard  that  lie  reiterated,  without  once  be- 
ing able  to  knit  his  marble  brow  at  the  liar,  or 
wink  a  pupil-less  eye  at  the  visitor,  not  to  be 
taken  in.  But  I  doubt  not  that  the  fact  of  the 
bust's  being  there  deepened  the  guide's  crime. 

Of  a  less  barbarous  age  are  the  ivory  tankards, 
elaborately  carved,  to  be  found  in  the  windows  of 
curiosity  shops  throughout  Dresden.  There,  more- 
over, stand  tall  green  glasses  of  Bohemian  manu- 
facture, jewelled  and  painted  with  arabesques  and 
figures.  But  all  are  but  approximations  to  the 


OF    GAMBRINUS.  87 

excellence  of  the  clear  glass  schoppen  of  to-day,  which 
though  it  holds  but  a  pint,  may  be  replenished  a 
hundred  times  a  day,  and  is  vastly  more  managea- 
ble than  the  seven-quart  affair.  They  are  usually 
some  seven  or  eight  inches  high,  and  twice  as 
much  in  girth — just  the  proportion  of  a  respecta- 
ble toper;  but  this  model  is  varied  within  certain 
limits ;  and  some  of  gothic  design,  with  peaked 
lids,  are  as  beautiful  as  heart  could  wish ;  and  a 
pewter  mannikin  an  inch  and  a  half  high,  stag- 
gering under  the  weight  of  a  barrel  of  liquor,  is 
perched  above  the  handle.  The  l-ids  are  a  distin- 
guishing feature,  necessary  to  retard  the  too  rapid 
evaporation  of  the  foam.  They  must  be  kept  down, 
like  those  of  a  maiden's  eyes  :  should  we  neglect  this 
precaution,  not  only  is  our  beer  liable  to  stale,  but 
any  impertinent  fellow  sitting  near  may,  by  beer-law, 
snatch  a  draught  of  it  without  saying,  By  your 
leave  ! 

We  may,  of  course,  hurl  the  mug  at  him  ;  there 
are  few  better  missiles  than  a  good  schoppen,  and 
every  Saxon  knows  how  to  use  it  in  this  way  also. 
The  schoppen-throwing  spirit  is  latent  in  the  most 
seeming-inoffensive  of  the  race,  and  will  crop  out  on 
occasion.  We  do  not  know  our  friend  until  we 
have  seen  him  at  such  a  moment.  He  has  no  ten- 
dency to  individual  action ;  he  loves  a  majority, 


88  SAXON   STUDIES. 

though  not  ignorant  of  how  to  turn  the  contrary 
position  into  a  virtue.  With  a  crowd  to  back  him, 
he- will  sling  his  mug  at  anybody;  and  it  is  in- 
structive to  observe,  when  once  his  victory  is  se- 
cure, how  voluble,  excited,  and  indignant  he  be- 
comes —  how  implacable  and  over-bearing  towards 
his  foe ;  the  same  Saxon  in  his  beer-saloon  as  at 
Sedan  ! 

In  reflecting  upon  the  amount  of  beer  consumed 
by  the  average  Saxon  during  the  day,  I  am  in- 
clined to  believe  with  Rabelais,  that  drinking  pre- 
ceded thirst  in  the  order  of  creation,  since  the 
want  postulates  the  habit ;  and  that  he  drinks, 
not  because  his  throat  is  parched,  but  in  order  that 
it  may  not  be.  It  is  no  paradox  that  the  thirs- 
tiest men  are  the  smallest  drinkers ;  therefore 
Saxons  can  never  be  thirsty,  but  drink  either  out 
of  mere  bravado,  or  else  from  a  belief  that  to 
drink  steadily  the  first  half  of  their  lives,  will 
secure  them  from  thirst  during  the  second.  If 
this  creed  be  not  a  popular  fallacy,  it  is  a  most 
important  truth.  Nevertheless,  it  would  perhaps 
be  safer  to  continue  the  remedy  throughout  the  de- 
cline of  existence,  and  so  float  comfortably  into  the 
other  life. 


OF   GAMBRINUS.  89 


IV. 

FROM  our  present  point  of  view,  Dresden  might 
be  described  as  a  beer-lake,  of  which  the  breweries 
are  the  head-waters.  The  liquid,  however,  is  di- 
vided up  into  reservoirs  of  all  sizes,  from  thou- 
sand-gallon tuns  to  pint  bottles.  The  fishes  are 
the  Dresdeners  themselves,  who,  instead  of  swim- 
ming in  the  lake,  allow  it  to  swim  in  them  —  a 
more  „  pleasant  and  economic  arrangement.  This 
lake  resembles  the  ocean  in  having  hours  of  flood 
and  ebb  ;  but  the  tide  never  runs  out  so  far  as  to 
leave  the  fishes  high  and  dry.  The  periods  of 
high  beer,  or  full  fishes,  are,  roughly  speaking, 
from  twelve  to  two  at  noon  and  from  six  to  ten 
in  the  evening. 

It  is  really  not  easy  to  exaggerate  the  impor- 
tance of  beer-saloons  to  the  city  economy.  Beer, 
like  other  valuable  things,  has  a  tendency  to  lodge 
humbly ;  is  fond  of  antique,  not  to  say  plebeian, 
surroundings ;  and  is  so  thorough  a  demagogue 
that  it  not  only  flatters  the  multitude,  but  harbors 
in  their  midst !  Now,  so  uninviting  are  some 


90  SAXON   STUDIES. 

Dresden  neighborhoods,  we  must  believe  that, 
except  for  the  beer-saloons  in  them,  they  would 
speedily  be  left  without  inhabitants.  Thus  beer 
equalizes  the  distribution  of  population.  What  .is 
of  more  moment,  it  provides  employment,  either 
directly  or  indirectly,  for  a  vast  proportion  of  the 
people.  Not  to  speak  of  the  architects,  coopers, 
glass-workers,  and  numberless  others  to  whose  sup- 
port it  largely  contributes,  it  actually  creates  the 
landlords,  waiters,  and  waitresses.  We  may  go  far- 
ther, and  point  out  that  it  is  the  vital  principle, 
if  not  the  cause,  of  popular  concerts,  as  well  as  of 
summer  excursions  into  rural  suburbs,  whose  health- 
ful beauties  would  else  remain  unexplored.  The 
student  "  Kneipen"  owe  what  life  they  have  more 
'to  their  beer  than  to  either  their  tradition  or  the 
Schlager.  In  short,  society,  among  the  mass  of 
the  people,  is  clustered  round  the  beer-glass ;  and 
the  liquor  of  Gambrinus  is  not  more  the  national 
beverage  than  it  is  the  builder-up  of  the  nation. 

The  beer-saloon  is  the  Saxon's  club,  parlor,  and 
drawing-room,  and  is  free  alike  to  rich  and  poor, 
noble  and  simple.  The  family-man  as  well  as  the 
bachelor,  the  old  with  the  young  man,  is  regular 
and  uniform  in  his  attendance.  For  Saxons  have 
no  homes,  nor  the  refinement  which  leads  most 
creatures,  human  or  other,  to  reserve  for  them- 


OF   GAMBRINUS.  91 

selves  a  retreat  apart  from  the  world's  common 
path  and  gaze.  It  must  not  be  inferred  that  the 
husband  objects  to  taking  his  wife  and  children 
along  with  him :  the  broad  Saxon  tolerance  never 
dreams  of  ostracizing  woman  from  the  scene  of 
her  lord's  conviviality.  Though  seldom  present  in 
large  numbers,  there  is  generally  a  sprinkling  of 
them  in  every  roomful  of  drinkers.  I  have  not 
observed  that  they  exercise  any  restraint  upon  the 
tone  of  conversation :  considering  the  light  in  which 
woman  is  regarded,  it  is  not  to  be  expected  that 
they  should ;  and  as  for  children,  they  are  not  re- 
garded at  all.  The  wives  watch  the  conversation 
of  their  masters  much  as  a  dog  might  do,  seldom 
thinking  of  contributing  to  it ;  or  if  they  do,  it  is 
not  in  womanly  fashion,  but  so  far  as  possible  in  im- 
itation of  the  men's  manner.  They  drink  their  fair 
share  of  beer,  often  from  the  men's  glass  ;  but  I  can- 
not say  that  the  geniality  thus  induced  improves 
them.  Until  pretty  far  up  in  the  social  scale,  there 
is  little  essential  difference  between  the  lower  orders 
.  of  women  and  those  above  them,  especially  after 
Gambrinus  has  laid  his  wand  upon  them.  In  the 
German  language  are  no  equivalents  for  the  best 
sense  of  our  Lady  and  Gentleman ;  and  perhaps 
the  reason  is  not  entirely  a  linguistic  one. 

Female    Saxony    is   very    industrious  ;    carries   its 


92  SAXON   STUDIES. 

sewing  or  embroidery  about  with  it  everywhere, 
and  knits  to  admiration.  When  in  its  own  com- 
pany, it  chatters  like  magpies,  and  we  watch  it  with 
an  appropriately  amused  interest.  But  our  interest 
is  of  another  sort  when,  as  sometimes  happens,  a 
man  enters  wxith  his  newly-married  wife  or  sweet- 
heart. The  untutored  stranger  observes  with  cu- 
riosity the  indifference  of  the  couple  to  the  public 
eye.  Towards  the  close  of  the  second  glass,  her 
head  droops  upon  his  shoulder,  their  hands  and  eyes 
meet,  they  murmur  in  each  other's  ear,  and  fat- 
uously smile.  It  is  nothing  to  them  that  the 
table  and  the  room  are  crowded  with  strange  faces. 
The  untutored  stranger,  if  he  imagine  these  per- 
sons to  be  other  than  of  perfect  social  respectabil- 
ity, commits  a  profound  mistake.  They  are  Saxons 
of  the  better  class,  and  are  utterly  unconscious 
of  anything  coarse  or  ungainly  in  thus  giving  pub- 
licity to  their  mutual  endearments.  The  untutored 
stranger  had  perhaps  believed  that  publicity  of  love, 
to  be  sublime,  must  be  manifested  under  very  ex- 
ceptional circumstances.  He  had  read  with  pleasure 
how  the  beautiful  woman  threw  herself  upon  her 
lover's  bosom,  so  to  intercept  the  fatal  bullet :  or, 
his  heart  had  throbbed  at  the  passionate  last  embrace 
of  wife  an'd  husband  upon  the  scaffold  steps.  But  he 
is  extravagant  and  prejudiced  :  not  instant  death,  but 


OF    GAMBRINUS.  93 

a  quart  or  so  of  beer  is  pretext  all-sufficient.  Nay, 
may  it  not  be  that  our  Saxon  sweethearts  would  find 
death  put  their  affection  out  of  joint,  and  therefore 
do  wisely  to  be  satisfied  with  the  easy  godfather- 
ship  of  Gambrinus  ?  At  all  events,  our  •  criticisms 
are  as  gratuitous  as  untutored.  The  mixed  assem- 
bly in  which  the  exhibition  takes  place  considers  it 
so  little  extraordinary,  as  scarcely  to  be  at  the 
trouble  of  looking  at  it  or  away  from  it.  Never- 
theless there  seems  to  be  a  spiritual  nudity  about 
it,  which,  if  not  divine,  indicates  a  phase  of  civ- 
ilization elsewhere  unknown. 

I  have  introduced  this  scene  because  it  typifies  a 
universal  trait.  Saxons  cannot  be  happy  except  in 
public  and  under  one  -another's  noses.  The  edge  of 
pain  is  dulled  for  them  if  only  they  may  undergo 
their  torture  in  the  market-place  ;  and  no  piece  of 
good  luck  is  worth  having  which  has  not  been 
dragged  through  the  common  gutter.  Each  man's 
family  is  too  small  for  him,  —  he  must  take  his 
neighbor's  likewise  into  his  bosom.  Is  this  the  re- 
sult of  a  lofty  spirit  of  human  brotherhood  ?  or  is 
it  diseased  vanity,  which  finds  its  only  comfort  in 
stripping  the  wretched  fig-leaves  alike  from  its  vir- 
tue and  its  vice  ?  Nevertheless,  most  Saxons,  if 
charged  to  their  faces  with  being  the  first  of  na- 
tions, admit  the  impeachment  :  which  proves  how 


94  SAXON   STUDIES. 

little  true  greatness  has  in  common  with  the  minor 
proprieties. 

It  would  be  pleasant  to  study  this  trait  in  its  effect 
upon  gossip  and  scandal.  If  a  man  denudes  himself 
in  presence  of  my  crony  and  me,  does  he  not  deprive 
our  epigrams  of  their  sting,  and  make  our  innuen- 
does ridiculous  ?  Backbiters,  thus  rudely  treated, 
must  miss  that  delicate  flavor  which  renders  a 
dish  of  French  scandal  the  delight  of  the  world. 
But  the  guild  dies  hard,  and  even  in  the  face  of  a 
persecution  which  should  go  the  length  not  only  of 
confessing  discreditabilities,  but  of  taking  a  pride  in 
them,  will  still  find  some  husks  to  fatten  upon. 


OF   GAMBRINUS.  95 


V. 

IT  is  high  time  for  us  to  make  some  pleasant  ac- 
quaintances ;  and  if  we  will  let  our  imagination  wan- 
der citywards,  I  know  a  spot  where  we  may  meet 
some.  Turning  aside  from  the  venerable  Schloss 
Strausse,  we  traverse  a  narrower  side-thoroughfare, 
and  soon  arrive  at  a  low  and  dark-mouthed  arch- 
way. We  vanish  beneath  it,  and,  feeling  our  way 
along  the  wall,  come  presently  to  a  door  which, 
opening  almost  of  itself,  admits  us  into  an  apart- 
ment remarkable  alike  for  its  smokiness,  its  narrow- 
ness, and  its  length.  The  opposite  wall  seems  to 
press  against  us,  and  we  instinctively  adopt  a  side- 
ways motion  in  walking  down  the  room.  Full  five 
out  of  the  seven  or  eight  feet  of  narrowness  are 
taken  up  with  the  square  brown  chairs  and  tables,  of 
which  there  must  be  enough  in  Saxony  to  cover  a 
third  of  the  country's  area.  The  walls  are  panelled 
breast  high ;  the  ends  of  the  room  are  indistinct  in 
the  smoky  haze.  All  the  world  is  sitting  down 
except  ourselves  and  buxom  Ida,  who  comes  trip- 
ping along  behind  us,  with  both  her  plump  hands 
full  of  beer.  Let  us  hasten  to  be  seated. 


96  SAXON   STUDIES. 

The  Saxon  habit  of  sitting  down  to  everything  is, 
by  the  way,  one  which  Americans  would  do  well  to 
imitate,  especially  when  they  eat  or  drink.  Man  is 
the  only  animal  that  can  sit  squarely  down  upon  a 
chair — it  is  as  much  his  prerogative  as  laughing  or 
cooking.  The  moral  effect  of  sitting  down  is  to  in- 
duce deliberation,  and  we  Republicans  should  have 
too  much  self-respect  as  well  as  prudence  to  stand 
up  to  a  luncheon  or  liquor-bar  like  so  many  spar- 
rows, while  our  Saxon  brother  finds  his  knees  giv- 
ing way  at  no  more  than  the  sight  of  a  toothpick. 
That  foolish  relic  of  barbarism,  the  practice  of 
rising  to  toasts,  does,  it  is  true,  obtain  in  Saxony 
no  less  than  elsewhere  ;  but  internal  evidence  jus- 
tifies the  prediction  that  Saxons  will  lead  the 
world  in  refining  it  away. 

Having  got  us  comfortably  seated,  buxom  little 
Ida  caresses  the  back  of  our  chair  while  she  lends 
her  ear  and  ear-ring  to  our  order.  Ida  is  always  on 
the  best  of  terms  with  her  company,  while  maintain- 
ing a  feminine  ascendency  over  them.  She  responds 
cordially  if  we  summon  her  by  name,  but  is  deaf 
to  the  unceremonious  rattling  of  the  schoppen-lid, 
which  is  the  usual  way  of  calling  for  attendance. 
She  sustains  the  many  personal  compliments  where- 
with she  is  plied  with  a  rare,  complacent  equa- 
nimity, repaying  them  with  a  softened  cadence  of 


OF   GAMBRINUS.  97 

tone  and  an  approving  smile.  She  has  her  favor- 
ites, of  course,  but  so  manages  matters  as  not  to 
obtrude  the  fact  unpleasantly  upon  the  less  for- 
tunate. When,  at  parting,  we  take  occasion  to 
slip  into  her  palm  an  eleemosynary  coin,  she  allows 
her  short  fingers  to  close  for  a  moment  over  ours 
in  mute  friendly  acknowledgment.  She  is  a  brisk, 
round,  smooth  little  body,  with  no  feature  or  ex- 
pression worth  mentioning,  and  a  figure  consisting 
mainly  of  rounded  protuberances.  She  knows  her 
duties  well,  and  deftly  remembers  the  idiosyncra- 
sies of  her  guest,  after  the  first  few  visits  have 
made  him  familiar.  I  have  never  seen  in  her  face 
any  record  or  passage  of  thought :  she  even  adds  up 
her  accounts  without  thinking,  and  this  is  possibly 
one  reason  why  so  many  small  perquisites  make 
their  way  to  her  plump  pockets.  When  she  finds 
herself  at  leisure  —  usually  for  an  Jiour  or  so  during 
the  morning  and  afternoon  —  she  has  a  well-condi- 
tioned little  nap  in  a  corner,  never  bothering  her 
small  brain-pan  with  life-problems  past  or  to  come. 
It  is  a  mystery  how  a  body  and  soul  combined  in 
such  very  unequal  proportions,  should  produce  so 
pleasant  and  cheerful  an  effect.  Is  Ida  ever 
naughty  ?  I  should  as  soon  think  of  applying 
moral  standards  to  a  jelly-fish  as  to  her  ;  mean- 
while, the  worst  wickedness  I  have  detected  in 

7 


98  SAXON   STUDIES. 

her  is  a  funny  fat  slyness  in  that  matter  of  perqui- 
sites. Her  conscience  —  which  probably  is  less  fat 
and  more  gristle  than  any  other  part  of  her  body  — 
is,  I  am  sure,  untroubled. 

Ida  can  scarcely  be  taken  as  a  representative  of 
her  class  —  a  fact  which  is  probably  less  to  their 
credit  than  to  hers.  German  beer-girls  are  harder 
worked  than  English  bar-maids,  since,  in  addition 
to  late  hours,  they  are  obliged  to  walk  from  ten  to 
fifteen  miles  a  day,  carrying  to  and  fro  heavy  loads 
of  beer-glasses.  Though  they  may  equal  their  Eng- 
lish sisters  in  education,  they  are  far  behind  them 
in  intelligence  and  the  appearance  of  refinement. 
They  are  often  pretty,  however,  and  withal,  healthy 
and  substantial-looking  ;  and  I  dare  say  their  labors, 
arduous  as  they  appear,  are  luxury  compared  to 
those  of  the  peasantry,  from  which  class  most  of 
them  spring.  More  deleterious  than  the  physical 
work  is  doubtless  the  moral  wear  and  tear  conse- 
quent upon  receiving  day  by  day  the  jokes,  caresses, 
compliments,  or  insults  of  a  rabble  of  men  of  all 
ranks  and  tempers.  They  generally  acquit  them- 
selves with  some  tact  and  more  good-humor ;  and 
they  are  subjected  to  a  freedom  of  speech  and  be- 
havior from  the  sterner  sex  which,  in  any  other 
country,  would  be  met  by  a  thoroughly  deserved 
box  on  the  ear.  It  appears  to  be  understood  that 


OF   GAMBRINUS.  99 

the  right  of  embracing  the  beer-girl  is  included  in 
the  price  of  the  liquor.  In  one  respect  these  young 
•women  compare  pleasantly  with  the  men-waiters, 
—  that  whereas  we  may  bind  the  latter,  body  and 
soul,  to  our  service  by  a  judicious  administration  of 
fees,  in  the  minds  of  the  former  we  can  at  best 
only  create  a  conflict  between  their  interest  and 
their  affections.  We  may  fee  a  Kellnerin  to  the 
limit  of  her  desires,  yet  if  that  be  our  best  charm, 
all  will  not  prevent  her  enjoying  her  whisper  in 
the  corner  with  her  poor  soldier,  who  never  gave 
her  anything  more  valuable  than  a  kiss,  while  our 
beer-glass  stands  empty.  This  •  is  more  agreeable 
than  anything  in  the  male  character.  Women 
were  never  so  necessary  to  the  world's  welfare  as 
now,  if  only  they  will  be  women.  Let  them  steep 
their  brains  in  their  hearts,  or  else  dispense  with 
the  former  altogether.  What  becomes  of  these 
waitresses  later  in  life,  I  know  not.  Let  us  hope 
they  are  happy  with  their  soldiers. 

The  little  clique  which  makes  Ida's  beer-saloon 
its  nightly  resort  is  of  a  character  complimentary 
to  Ida's  own.  They  are  elderly  men,  and  repre- 
sent the  most  thoughtful  and  enlightened  class  in 
Dresden.  They  are  patriots  of  '48,  who,  having 
been  banished  by  their  government,  owe  their  re- 
call to  the  progress  of  those  opinions  for  which 


100  SAXON   STUDIES. 

they  suffered  exile.  Most  of  them  are  now  mem- 
bers of  the  Council,  and  amuse  themselves  by  oc- 
casionally voting  against  an  increase  of  the  king's 
income.  They  are  among  the  few  Saxons  whose 
patriotism  does  not  consist  in  being  selfish,  con- 
ceited, and  intolerant  of  criticism.  They  desire 
not  to  defend  their  country  for  what  she  is,  but  to 
help  her  to  what  she  might  be :  if  they  do  not 
sympathize  with  their  unenlightened  countrymen, 
they  would  like  to  render  them  worthy  of  sym- 
pathy. In  the  face  of  so  stiff  a  job,  I  cannot  but 
admire  their  uniformly  jovial  and  well-conditioned 
aspect.  There  is  nothing  of  the  melancholy,  wild- 
eyed,  long-haired,  collarless  enthusiast  about  them. 
Probably  they  have  the  wisdom  to  use  those  qual- 
ities in  their  opponents  which  can  be  made  to 
serve  their  own  ends,  and  thus  have  become  pros- 
perous. 

We  may  hold  agreeable  converse  with  these 
men,  for  their  draught  of  the  outer  world  has  per- 
manentlyv  improved  their  mental  digestions,  and 
allows  us  to  talk  discursively  without  fear  of  giv- 
ing offence.  When  the  beer  has  loosened  in  them 
the  reins  of  those  faculties  which  their  experience 
has  developed,  they  become  very  good  company. 
Yet,  when  all  has  been  said,  there  remains  a  se- 
cret sense  of  dissatisfaction.  We  have  coincided 


OF   GAMBRINUS.  101 

upon  many  points,  but  on  what  one  have  we 
melted  together  ?  The  objection  may  seem  fantas- 
tic, but  it  is  true  and  of  significance.  Many  a 
hard  head  and  intractable  judgment  do  we  meet, 
who  yet  in  the  dispute  lets  fall  a  word  or  tone 
which  makes  the  eyes  fill,  we  know  not  why,  re- 
vealing a  deeper  agreement  between  us  than  any  of 
opinions.  We  fight  such  men  more  lovingly  than 
we  ally  ourselves  with  others,  whose  creeds  per- 
haps fit  ours  like  the  lines  of  a  dissecting  map. 


102  SAXON   STUDIES. 


VI. 

BESIDES  the  politicians,  there  is  a  sprinkling  of 
the  learned  class,  who  are  often  shabbier  in  exter- 
nal aspect  than  men  of  far  less  consideration.  In 
addition  to  their  undeniable  beer-drinking  powers, 
they  have  quaffed  deep  of  the  Pierian  spring,  and  are 
no  less  interesting  than  the  books  which  they  compile. 
There  is  little  human  glow  in  them,  however,  and 
their  erudite  talk  reminds  of  conversations  printed 
on  a  page :  it  lacks  the  unexpectedness  and  piq- 
uancy of  original  or  spontaneous  thought.  They 
are  wood  of  a  straight,  close  grain,  —  displaying 
none  of  the  knots  and  eccentric  veins  which  make 
a  polished  surface  attractive :  nor  do  they  possess 
the  rich,  pervading  color  which  might  compensate 
for  plainness  of  structure.  Their  faculties  are  use- 
ful to  the  world  in  the  same  way  that  printing- 
types  are,  —  they  may  be  arranged  to  form  valua- 
ble combinations,  but  are  not  therefore  intrinsically 
captivating,  —  have  none  of  that  fascination  which 
attaches  to  a  black-letter  MS.  Geniuses  not  only 
never  repeat  themselves,  but  never  use  the  same 


OF   GAMBRINUS.  108 

material  twice.  Each  fresh  work  is  done  in  a  new 
way,  with  new  tools,  and  retains  an  unhackneyed 
aroma,  be  it  ever  so  irregular  or  imperfect. 

But  the  talents  of  these  Saxon  sages  are  limited 
in  number  and  overworked  ;  and  the  very  fact  of 
their  limitation  and  want  of  idiosyncrasy  seems  to 
be  the  cause  of  their  application  to  all  sorts  and 
amounts  of  labor.  But  a  man  who  can  get  all  things 
out  of  himself,  all  on  the  same  rule  and  scale,  should 
perhaps  be  especially  careful  to  confine  himself  to  one 
thing  only.  Original  men  change  color,  tone,  and 
key,  with  every  new  idea  ;  and  as  no  idea  can  ever 
be  twice  the  same,  so  is  their  manner  of  entertain- 
ing it  never  twice  identical.  Otherwise  they  are 
machines ;  and  I  think  the  Saxon  sages  often  have  a 
tendency  to  be  mechanical. 

Nevertheless  there  are  some  originals  among 
them.  One  gentleman  I  remember,  who  was  by 
profession  a  lawyer,  but  had  dabbled  in  literature, 
was  the  author  of  some  poetry,  I  believe,  and 
ranked  himself  among  the  Klopstocks  and  Heines. 
He  had  fine  features  and  a  high,  bald  forehead, 
which  he  seemed  always  trying  to  heighten  by 
passing  his  hand  up  it,  and  tossing  back  the 
thin  locks  of  gray  hair  which  hung  down  to  his 
shoulders.  He  was  dressed  with  small  care,  and 


104  SAXON   STUDIES. 

less  cleanliness;  his  shirt,  in  particular,  was  enough 
to  make  the  heart  ache.  Reverses,  perhaps,  or 
disappointed  ambition,  had  enrolled  this  personage 
among  the  sworn  disciples  of  Gambrinus,  and  it 
was  his  daily  custom  to  pledge  that  monarch  so 
deeply  that  by  evening  his  heart  was  full  and 
and  ready  to  overflow  on  small  encouragement. 
One  night  he  entered  late,  and  proceeded  without 
warning  to  be  ardently  enamored  of  an  unobtru- 
sive young  man  who  happened  to  be  of  our  party, 
and  whom  he  had  never  seen  before.  "  Sir,  you 
are  dear  to  me  !  I  love  you,  sir !  my  heart  is 
yours !  "  In  proof  of  his  regard,  he  presently  be- 
gan to  declaim  a  great  deal  of  poetry  ;  and  never 
have  I  heard  those  pieces  more  finely  and '  elo- 
quently interpreted.  The  scene,  perhaps,  took  its 
rise  in  the  whim  of  a  half-tipsy  brain,  but,  as 
the  actor  wrought  upon  himself,  it  assumed  a  hue 
of  grotesque  pathos.  The  man  became  stirred  to 
his  depths ;  now  tears  ran  down  his  cheeks ;  now 
his  eyes  flashed,  and  he  manned  himself  heroically  ; 
and  now  again  he  paused  to  empty  his  beer-glass  and 
sign  to  Ida  for  more.  But  the  liquor  he  drank,  instead 
of  disguising  him,  dissolved  the  mask  of  his  inner  nat- 
ture.  Heaven  knows  what  confused  memories  of  joy 
and  grief  were  at  work  within  him  ;  but  it  was  evi- 


OF   GAMBRINUS.  105 

dent  that  through  the  miserable  absurdity  of  circum- 
stance, he  gave  us  distorted  glimpses  of  what  had 
been  best  and  highest  in  his  character  —  that  he  was 
laying  bare  to  us  the  deepest  heart  he  had.  And 
it  is  on  this  account  —  not  for  purposes  of  ridi- 
cule —  that  I  have  brought  forward  the  episode. 
His  sincerity  no  one  could  have  doubted,  least  of 
all  himself ;  yet  it  revealed  nothing  genuine :  the 
man's  very  soul  was  artificial,  and  in  the  heat 
of  his  self-abandonment,  he  could  not  be  natural. 
His  sentiment  and  passion  could  only  have  moved 
unconscious  hypocrites  like  himself.  He  had  been 
very  eminent  in  his  profession,  and  all  he  did  was 
marked  by  exceptional  talent ;  he  must  once  have 
been  an  exceeding  handsome  man;  and,  above  all, 
he  was  a  thorough  German,  in  accord  with  the 
genius  of  his  countrymen.  But  for  those  who  are 
not  Germans,  the  heart  is  the  gunpowder  whose 
explosion  gives  the  bullet  of  thought  its  effect,  and 
they  cannot  be  pierced  with  the  subtlest  intellect- 
ual missile  which  lacks  this  projecting  power. 

After  Ida's,  my  favorite  resort  was  a  mediaeval- 
looking  apartment  in  the  Neustadt,  near  the  head 
of  the  venerable,  historic  bridge  which  connects 
the  main  thoroughfares  of  the  old  and  new  towns. 
Werthmann,  the  proprietor,  is  a  man  of  taste  and 
feeling,  and  has  adorned  his  saloon  with  intent  to 


106  SAXON   STUDIES. 

realize,  so  far  as  he  may,  the  ideal  of  a  Gambri- 
nian  temple.  We  enter  a  square  room  of  moder- 
ate size,  wainscoted  to  a  height  of  five  feet  from 
the  floor  with  dark  carved  wood.  Above  the 
wainscot  the  wall  is  divided  lengthwise  into  two 
compartments,  the  upper  one  exhibiting  designs  of 
highly-colored  groups  of  figures  in  fourteenth- cent- 
ury costumes,  relieved  against  a  dark  blue  back- 
ground ;  while  the  other  is  devoted  to  scraps  of 
convivial  poetry,  appropriate  to  the  paintings,  and 
executed  in  the  black-letter  character ;  which  po- 
etry, if  not  always  unexceptionable,  either  from  a 
moral  or  poetical  point  of  view,  matches  well 
enough  the  tone  of  the  surroundings.  Over  the 
door-way  is  inscribed  the  legend,  "  Kommt  Here- 
in, Hier  ist  gut  sein ! "  which  is  certainly  an  im- 
provement upon  some  of  those  religious  perpetra- 
tions which  I  have  noticed  farther  back.  In  other 
places  we  spell  out  such  agreeable  truisms  as 
"  Gerste  rnit  Hopfen  giebt  gate  Tropfen ; "  and 
here,  again,  is  Doctor  Martin  Luther's  famous 
couplet.  The  windows  are  sunk  nearly  three  feet 
into  the  walls,  with  black  oak  sills  and  panels,  and 
command  a  view  of  the  ugly  old  market-place,  with 
its  rough  cobble  pavement  and  its  tanned  market 
women,  presided  over  by  the  ungainly  equestrian 
statue  of  Augustus  the  Strong,  his  gilding  sadly 


OF    GAMBRINUS.  107 

tarnished  by  the  weather.  There  is  an  inner  room, 
much  in  the  fashion  of  the  first,  save  that  the 
background  of  the  frescoes  is  golden  instead  of 
blue  ;  and  still  beyond  is  the  billiard-room,  whence 
issues  a  buzz  of  voices  and  click  of  balls.  At 
certain  hours  of  the  day  Werthmann  comes  in,  — 
a  portly,  imposing,  but  thoroughly  amiable  figure, 
bowing  with  serious  courtesy  to  each  of  his  as- 
sembled guests.  This  done,  he  seats  himself  at  a 
table  with  his  favorite  gossips  and  a  glass  of  his 
particular  beer.  Among  the  frescoes  on  the  walls 
there  is  more  than  one  portrait  figure  of  Herr 
Werthmann  in  the  character  of  Gambrinus  him- 
self,—  and  he  supports  the  role  well.  But  he  is 
not  for  show  only.  One  morning  I  caught  him 
on  a  chair,  amidst  half  a  dozen  workmen,  clad 
in  an  enormous  pinafore,  and  bespattered  with  the 
whitewash  which  he  was  vigorously  applying  to 
the  ceiling.  He  is  a  good  type  of  Saxon  land- 
lords, who,  as  a"  rule,  are  among  the  pleasantest 
and  most  conversable  men  in  town.  Much  of  the 
success  of  their  business  depends  on  their  geniality, 
and  practice  makes  it  their  second  nature. 

The  attendants  here  are  both  male  and  female, 
though  the  former  perhaps  predominate,  in  their 
regulation  black  swallow-tails.  I  have  often  no- 
ticed a  singular  effect  which  uniforms  have  upon 


108  SAXON   STUDIES. 

the  analysis  of  character ;  it  is  nearly  impossible 
to  form  an  unbiassed  judgment  of  a  man  whose 
coat  and  hat  mark  his  profession.  Inevitably  we 
regard  him,  not  as  a  simple  human  being,  but 
through  the  colored  medium  of  his  official  insignia. 
Thus,  if  the  Kellners  wore  ordinary  clothes,  it 
would  be  much  easier  to  pronounce  upon  their  pe- 
culiarities of  disposition  and  behavior.  As  it  is, 
their  sable  dress-coats,1 — which  seem  to  have  been 
born  with  them  and  to  have  grown  like  their 
skins,  —  their  staccato  manner,  their  fallacious  brisk- 
ness, their  elaborate  way  of  not  accomplishing  any- 
thing, and  their  fundamental  rascality,  appear  to 
be  the  chief  impressions  of  them  left  upon  my 
mind.  They  do  not  contrast  well  with  the  Eng- 
lish waiters ;  there  is  seldom  any  approach  to  neat- 
ness in  their  condition,  and  they  never  attain  the 
cultured,  high-bred  repose  which  we  see  on  the 
other  side  of  the  Channel.  In  their  swindling 
operations  they  manifest  neither  art  nor  delicacy ; 
moral  suasion  is  unknown  to  them,  nor  do  they 
ever  attempt  to  undermine  us  on  the  side  of  ab- 
stract justice  and  respectability.  They  simply  and 
brutally  retain  the  change,  and  meet  any  remon- 
strance on  our  part,  first  with  denial,  secondly 
with  abuse,  and  finally  with  an  appeal  to  the  po- 
lice. 


OF   GAMBRINUS.  109 

Some  few  of  these  men  have  grown  old  in  the 
service,  but  the  majority  are  between  eighteen  and 
thirty.  Often  they  are  the  sons  of  hotel-keepers, 
serving  an  apprenticeship  at  their  trade.  Their 
wages  are  very  moderate,  but  I  fancy  few  of  them 
retire  from  the  profession  without  having  accumu- 
lated a  tolerable  fortune.  Unless  treated  with  a 
politic  mixture  of  sternness  and  liberality,  they  are 
apt  to  be  either  brusque  or  preoccupied,  if  not 
altogether  oblivious.  Possibly  their  darker  traits 
may  be  the  effect  of  continually  wearing  black 
tailed-coats,  and  when  they  put  them  off  they  may 
also  lay  aside  their  tendency  to  theft  and  false- 
hood. But  my  researches  have  not  gone  so  deep 
as  to  warrant  me  in  more  than  offering  the  sug- 
gestiop. 


110  SAXON   STUDIES. 


VII. 

IN  summer,  however,  we  have  no  business  to  sit 
between  four  walls  ;  Dresden  is  full  of  beer-gar- 
dens, where,  if  the  beer  is  sometimes  inferior,  its 
flavor  is  compensated  by  the  soft  pure  air  and  the 
music.  Our  difficulty  will  be,  not  to  find  a  pleas- 
ant spot,  but  to  fix  upon  the  pleasantest.  Saun- 
tering beneath  a  mile-long  avenue  of  chestnut-trees, 
we  might  climb  to  the  Waldschloesschen  Brewery, 
resting  on  the  hill-side  like  a  great  yellow  giant, 
whose  hundred  eyes  look  out  over  a  lovely  picture 
of  curving  river  and  hazy-towered  town.  Here, 
sitting  on  the  broad  stone  terrace,  beneath  trees  so 
dense  of  foliage  that  rain  cannot  penetrate  them, 
we  are  on  a  level  with  the  tops  of  trees  below, 
which  have  the  appearance  of  a  green  bank  sus- 
pended in  mid-air.  Far  off  on  the  river  the  white 
steamboats  crawl  and  palpitate,  and  the  huge  canal- 
boats  spread  their  brown  wings  to  help  along  as 
best  they  may  their  unwieldy  bulk.  Here,  too, 
the  beer  is  of  the  best,  and  we  may  drink  it  to 
the  tune  of  Mozart  and  Strauss. 

Somewhat    similar    ure    the    attractions    of    the 


OF    GAMBRINUS.  Ill 

Bruelsche  Terrasse,  which  is  also  more  accessible 
and  more  exclusive.  It  is  fine  in  the  evening, 
when  it  sparkles  thick  with  colored  lamps  and 
throbs  with  music ;  and  the  river,  above  whose 
brink  it  stands,  is  a  black  mysterious  abyss,  re- 
vealed only  by  the  reflected  lights  which  wander 
here  and  there  across  its  surface,  or  range  them- 
selves along  the  length  of  the  distant  bridge,  arid 
cast  long  wheeling  shadows  of  unseen  people  pass- 
ing to  and  fro  across  it.  But  even  here  we  find 
imperfections :  the  beer  glasses  are  scandalously 
small,  and  the  waiters,  who  wear  not  only  dress- 
coats  but  silver  buttons,  are  more  rapacious  and 
remorseless  than  harpies. 

After  all,  however,  the  best  place  is  the  Grosser 
Wirthschaft,  in  the  Royal  Park.  There  we  are 
in  the  midst  of  a  small  forest ;  but  a  vista,  open- 
ing through  the  trees  and  broadening  over  a  wide 
green  meadow,  yields  us  a  glimpse,  at  a  mile's 
distance,  of  a  gray  dome  and  two  or  three  taper- 
ing spires.  The  square  open  court,  some  sixty 
yards  in  width  and  closely  planted  with  trees  and 
street-lamp's,  is  partly  closed  in  on  two  sides  by 
low  buildings ;  the  orchestra  occupies  a  third,  while 
on  the  fourth  stands  sentinel  a  gigantic  tree.  Dur- 
ing the  pauses  of  the  music,  a  few  steps  will  bring 
us  to  sweet  secluded  walks,  where  we  might  almost 


112  SAXON   STUDIES. 

forget  that  such  things  as  houses  and  Saxons  ex- 
isted in  the  world.  During  the  heat  of  the  season 
concerts  are  given  here  at  five  in  the  morning, 
and  are  attended  by  crowds  of  tradespeople,  who 
thus  secure  their  half -holiday  before  the  day  has 
fairly  begun.  If  we  can  manage  to  get  up  early 
enough  to  go  to  one,  the  effect  of  the  spectacle 
upon  the  imagination  is  very  peculiar.  Reason 
tells  us  that  it  is  long  before  breakfast  time ;  but 
the  broad  sunshine,  the  crowd  of  people  drinking 
their  beer,  the  music  and  the  wide-awakeness  of 
everything,  proclaim  four  o'clock  in  the  afternoon. 
The  fact  that  the  sun  is  in  the  wrong  quarter  of 
the  heavens  only  increases  our  bewilderment,  and 
we  are  almost  persuaded  either  that  the  whole 
scene  is  a  wonderful  mirage,  or  that  we  are  phan- 
toms accidently  strayed  into  the  material  world. 

Surely,  only  hypercriticism  could  find  anything  to 
complain  of  in  all  this.  We  do  not,  I  suppose,  ex- 
pect Saxon  beer-gardens  to  be  like  the  land  of  the 
lotus-eaters,  where  dreamy  souls  recline  on  flow- 
ery couches,  and  know  not  whether  the  music  in 
their  enchanted  ears  comes  from  without  or  within. 
Moreover,  cane-bottomed  chairs  are  in  many  ways 
better  than  flowery  couches,  and  to  sit  at  a  table 
with  three  or  four  other  people,  even  if  we  do  not 
happen  to  know  them,  is  preferable  to  having  no 


OF   GAMBRINUS.  113 

table  at  all.  Lovers  of  music  should  not  object  to 
receiving  in  exchange  for  five  groschen,  a  piece  of 
paper  with  the  musical  programme  on  one  side,  and 
a  bill  of  fare  on  the  other  ;  nor  should  they  allow 
themselves  to  be  disturbed  by  the  continual  repass- 
ing,  during  the  performance,  of  unsympathetic  wait- 
ers, who  never  allow  a  beer-glass  to  become  empty 
through  any  lack  of  solicitation  on  their  part  to 
have  it  refilled.  If  the  ground  beneath  our  feet  is 
reddish-brown  gravel  instead  of  turf,  it  is  all  the 
safer  for  delicate  constitutions  :  and  if  trees,  ta- 
bles, and  lamp-posts  are  rigidly  aligned,  it  is  all  the 
better  for^order  and  convenience.  As  for  the  music, 
it  surely  could  not  be  finer ;  and  the  fact  that  every 
individual  of  the  orchestra  may  be  seen  sawing  or 
puffing  himself  red  in  the  face  over  his  horn  or 
violin,  ought  only  to  make  the  pleasure  more  real 
and  tangible. 

Who  can  deny  all  this  ?  Nevertheless,  all  the 
world  knows  that  to  possess  good  things  is  only  to 
foster  the  notion  that  they  might  be  improved.  Any 
strictures  against  Saxon  beer-gardens  would  certainly 
apply  with  equal  force  anywhere  else,  and  perhaps 
it  is  chiefly  because  they  are  good  enough  to  sug- 
gest dreams  of  something  better,  that  such  dreams 
venture  to  assert  themselves.  Were  I*  inclined  to 
pick  flaws,  the  first  would  be  that  the  gardens  dis- 


114  SAXON   STUDIES. 

appoint  from  being  half  gardens  and  half  something 
with  which  the  spirit  of  gardens  is  quite  irreconcil- 
able. Music,  whispering  leaves,  summer  skies,  — 
what  combination  could  be  more  charming  ?  But 
if  we  descend  —  as  we  must  —  beneath  the  leaves, 
the  disenchantment  is  all  the  harsher.  Nature  is 
put  in  a  strait-jacket,  her  tresses  are  shorn,  and  she 
is  preposterously  decked  out  with  artificial  ornament. 
These  gardens  are  aptly  symbolized  by  the  Sirens, 
who  made  fascinating  music  and  had  lovely  hair, 
and  who,  seen  from  a  proper  distance,  seemed  all 
delightful.  But  they  turned  out  to  be  less  attract- 
ive below.  Thus  if  we  walk  in  the  secluded  paths 
near  the  Grosser  Wirthschaft,  catching  snatches  of 
the  melody,  and  glimpses  of  the  gay  crowd  shad- 
owed by  the  cool  foliage,  the  effect  is  captivating ; 
but  the  stern  utilitarian  features  which  a  nearer 
view  discovers,  are  the  Siren's  claws. 

But  my  quarrel  strikes  a  deeper  root  than  this, 
and  will  not,  I  fear,  gain  me  much  sympathy.  I 
question  whether  music  can  be  heard  as  well  in  com- 
pany as  in  solitude,  save  when  the  company  is  in 
very  exceptional  accord.  Certainly,  any  strange 
or  unwelcome  presence  jars  like  a  false  note  con- 
tinually repeated.  Lovers,  I  should  imagine,  might 
listen  to  sweet  music  with  a  multiplied  pleasure 
and  appreciation  ;  or  a  great  assembly,  ablaze  with 


OF   GAMBRLNUS.  115 

some  all-inspiring  sentiment,  doubtless  take  addi- 
tional fire  from  the  sound  of  an  appropriate  strain. 
But  to  lavish  the  mighty  symphonies  of  great  mu- 
sicians upon  an  ill-assorted  crowd,  brought  together, 
ticketed,  and  arranged  of  malice  aforethought,  is  to 
pawn  pearls  at  less  than  their  value :  isolation  —  har- 
monious seclusion  —  are  the  only  terms  upon  which 
a  perception  of  subtle  musical  jewels  can  be  ob- 
tained, and  even  these  are  often  insufficient. 

The  Bible  tells  us  that  the  Divine  Presence  can 
be  better  invoked  by  two  or  three  than  by  one  ; 
but  music,  tike  nature,  not  being  an  infinite  divin- 
ity, seldom  reveals  her  more  exquisite  charms  save 
to  the  solitary  worshipper.  Human  beings  are  ter- 
ribly potent  things ;  we  admire  the  shrewd  scent  of 
wild  animals,  but  what  is  it  compared  with  the 
keenness  of  man's  spiritual  scent  for  his  fellow? 

Furthermore,  musicians,  unlike  little  boys,  should 
be  heard  but  not  seen.  Perhaps  a  beautiful  singer 
may  be  an  exception,  because,  in  her,  facial  expres- 
sion may  aid  the  interpretation  and  endow  it  with 
richer  coloring  ;  and  possibly  the  cultured  grace  of  a 
master-violinist  may  give  form  ancl  vividness  to  his 
rendering.  But  the  grace  and  beauty,  not  to  be 
offensive,  must,  at  least,  equal  that  of  the  theme.  A 
visible  orchestra  is  like  a  dissected  Venus:  to  lay 
bare  the  springs  and  methods  of  the  sweet  mystery  of 
harmonious  life,  is  to  sin  alike  against  art  and  nature. 


116  SAXON   STUDIES. 


VIII. 

I  SHOULD  not  have  been  tempted  to  go  so  far,  had 
it  not  been  my  purpose  to  go  one  step  farther,  and 
announce  the  remarkable  discovery  that  the  Saxons 
have  a  less  correct  ear  for  music  than,  any  people 
with  which  I  am  acquainted,.  I  am  sure  they  think 
quite  differently,  and  no  doubt,  after  the  first  sur- 
prise is  over,  they  will  be  grateful  for  having  had 
their  error  pointed  out.  Undeniably,  the  greatest 
musical  composers  have  been  of  German  blood  :  just 
as  in  ancient  times,  by  a  sort  of  revenge  of  nature, 
giants  and  pygmies  were  made  to  live  together. 
Moreover,  there  is  nowhere  more  good  music  than 
in  Saxony,  nor  anywhere  better  soldiers ;  the  reason 
being,  not  that  Saxons  have  any  especial  aptitude 
for  war  or  music,  but  that  they  are  exhaustively 
and  indefatigably  trained.  Bismarck  and  Wagner 
are  at  the  bottom  of  it. 

The  average  Saxon  orchestra  learns  its  music 
by  rote,  and  its  perception  of  harmony  is  not  in- 
tuitive but  mechanical.  They  regard  a  false  note 
as  a  mistake  —  never  as  a  sin ;  and  it  is  only  rigid 


OF   GAMBRINUS.  117 

drilling  which  enables  them  to  do  so  much  as  that. 
Listen  to  a  party  of  young  students  singing  to- 
gether, as  is  the  custom  of  young  students  all  over 
the  world:  they  sing  loudly  and  in  perfect  good 
faith,  conscious  that  they  are  Saxons,  and  there- 
fore fancying  that  they  are  infallible.  But  there 
will  be  more  discords  to  a  stave,  than  an  equal 
number  of  young  men  of  any  other  country  could 
produce.  There  may  be  something  pathetic  about 
this,  but  there  is  certainly  much  that  is  disagree- 
able. Again,  the  audiences  of  the  garden  concerts 
are  affected  by  tunes  and  slight  airs,  and  are  in- 
variably enthusiastic  in  their  applause  of  a  solo, 
however  imperfectly  rendered ;  because,  having  act- 
ually beheld  a  man  stand  up  before  them  and  pro- 
duce, with  more  or  less  physical  exertion,  a  variety 
of  musical  sounds,  they  are  convinced  that  they 
have  heard  what  is,  or  ought  to  be,  music.  But 
they  pass  by  the  great,  sublime  compositions  with 
significant  silence.  Now,  animals  are  moved  by 
tunes,  and  parrots  and  magpies  can  be  taught  to 
whistle  them.  When  the  tunes  are  what  is  called 
national  —  enhanced,  that  is,  by  some  glorious  or 
inspiring  tradition,  the  consideration  of  whatever 
musical  worth  they  may  have  is  as  nothing ;  such 
tunes  influence  mobs,  and  Saxon  mobs  no  less  than 
others.  A  tune  is  to  music  what  an  automaton, 


118  SAXON   STUDIES. 

with  its  little  round  of  recurring  movements,  is  to 
a  living  man  with  his  infinite  variety  of  manifesta- 
tion, which  yet  observes  a  distinctive  form  and  pur- 
pose. 

Music  in  Saxony,  like  the  army,  is  a  forced  prod- 
uct, having  no  root  in  the  nature  of  the  people,  and 
destined  to  wither  away  when  the  artificial  inspira- 
tion is  removed.  There  is  surely  something  sacred 
about  music;  those  who  are  born  to  it  will  seek 
it  out  through  all  obstacles ;  but  to  obtrude  it 
upon  persons  who  have  no  vital  understanding  of 
it,  is  to  do  injury  both  to  the  music  and  to  them. 
The  commonness  of  concerts  in  Saxony,  and  else- 
where in  Germany,  is  everywhere  admired :  they 
are  too  common,  perhaps,  and  may  be  lowered  by 
low  appreciation.  Nothing  beautiful  can  be  driven 
into  a  man  from  without :  the  only  result  will  be 
to  disfigure  him  and  desecrate  the  thing  of  beauty. 
But  we  are  getting  heated  again.  Another  glass 
of  beer  ?  No,  we  must  bid  .Gambrinus  farewell,  for 
it  is  late.  We  have  found  more  than  we  bargained 
for  in  our  schoppen. 


OF   GAMBRINUS.  119 


IX. 

GOOD  little  Frau  Schmidt  comes  up,  with  her 
pleasant  but  not  quite  cheerful  smile,  to  see  us  to 
the  door,  and  bid  us  not  forget  to  return.  We 
had  made  a  little  mystery  about  her,  at  the  be- 
ginnning  of  our  session,  with  the  understanding 
that  it  should  be  cleared  up  before  we  went  away. 
The  mystery  does  not  amount  to  much,  after  all, 
but  its  elucidation  may  serve  also  to  explain  why 
Frau  Schmidt  is  more  a  favorite  of  ours  than  any 
Saxon  woman  we  have  known. 

The  fact  is  (for  we  have  not  skill  farther  to 
prolong  the  suspense,  even  were  there  any  longer 
reason  for  doing  so),  Frau  Schmidt  is  an  English- 
woman, born,  she  tells  us,  within  hearing  of  Bow 
bells.  She  met  iri  London  the  big,  silent  Saxon, 
with  the  fine  massive  head  and  serious  bearing, 
who  was  destined  to  win  her  love  and  marry  her. 
He,  perhaps,  was  at  that  time  a  political  refugee. 
Certainly  he  was  more  a  man  than  the  aver- 
age :  there  was  a  force  and  largeness  in  him  rare 
among  Saxons;  and  individual  excellence  is  an  un- 


120  SAXON   STUDIES. 

comfortable  possession  in  a  land  governed  as  is 
this. 

But  when  a  good  many  years  had  passed,  and  an 
altered  administration  could  pardon  Herr  Schmidt's 
political  virtues,  the  memory  of  his  birthplace  con- 
tinually haunted  him ;  his  health  began  to  fail,  and 
he  fancied  that  only  a  breath  of  his  native  air  could 
restore  him.  His  wife  ddubtless  shrank  at  first 
from  the  thought  of  leaving  England,  and  settling 
among  strange  faces  and  barbarous  tongues,  in  an 
unknown  land.  Yet  her  heart  would  not  let  her 
hold  him  back,  and  without  her  he  could  not  go. 
They  came,  therefore,  and  Herr  Schmidt,  having 
purchased  a  small  beer-saloon  on  the  banks  of  the 
river  he  had  known  in  boyhood,  looked  forward  to 
health  and  quiet  happiness. 

But  all  was  somehow  not  right,  —  not  as  he 
had  expected.  Was  Dresden  changed*  or  had  his 
memory  played  him  false  ?  There  stood  Dresden, 
with  her  domes  and  steeples ;  there  flowed  the 
well-known  Elbe  beneath  the  old  historic  bridge. 
Around  him  were  Saxon  tongues  and  faces ;  yet 
the  city,  the  people  of  his  remembrance,  were  not 
there.  Perchance,  save  in  memory,  they  had  never 
been  at  all.  Ah,  Herr  Schmidt,  in  leaving  Eng- 
land, I  fear  you  were  not  wise.  Had  you  re- 
mained, two  good  countries  would  have  been 


OF   GAMBRLNUS.  121 

yours :  England,  good  enough  in  all  conscience 
for  those  who  have  never  known  a  better,  and 
the  Saxony  of  your  remembrance,  without  doubt 
superior  to  England,  to  Saxony  itself,  or  to  any 
other  place  whatever.  But  you  were  not  wise, 
Herr  Schmidt,  and  therefore  both  countries  are 
lost  to  you. 

And  how  of  Frau  Schmidt,  the  little  gray-clad 
Englishwoman  ?  She  loves  her  Saxon  husband, 
and  would  rather  be  with  him  than  anywhere ; 
yet  perhaps,  amidst  her  many  cares  and  few 
amusements,  she  finds  now  and  then  a  moment 
wherein  to  be  decently  wretched.  When,  on  my 
first  chance  visit  to  her  little  saloon,  I  happened 
to  let  fall  an  English  word,  I  shall  not  soon  for- 
get with  what  a  thirsty  eagerness  she  caught  up 
the  old  familiar  tongue ;  with  what  an  almost 
tremulous  pleasure  she  stood  and  talked,  —  talked 
for  the  mere  pleasure  of  once  more  talking  Eng- 
lish ;  delighting  in  it  as  does  a  child  over  a  long- 
lost  toy  ;  yet  saddened  by  that  very  delight,  be- 
cause it  made  her  recognize  how  rare  the  luxury 
was  and  must  ever  be.  Well,  she  does  her  best 
to  be  a  good  wife,  to  make  her  guests  welcome, 
and  worthily  to  serve  King  Gambrinus,  hoping 
secretly  that  in  time  he  will  reward  her  from  his 
treasury,  and  enable  her  at  least  to  die  in  Eng- 


122  SAXON   STUDIES. 

land.  That  time  will  never  come,  patient  little 
Frau  Schmidt ;  but  meanwhile  may  evil  befall  me 
if  ever  I  neglect  to  send  you  that  occasional  Eng-r 
lish  newspaper  for  which  you  once  with  hesitating 
earnestness  besought  me. 


SIDEWALKS    AND    ROADWAYS. 


CHAPTER    HI. 

SIDEWALKS  AND  EOADWAYS. 
I. 

PEOPLE  live  surrounded  with  themselves,  and  in 
their  own  atmosphere,  and  feel  at  ease  in  propor- 
tion as  what  is  without  is  attuned  to  what  is 
within.  The  religious  devotee  still  gravitates  to- 
wards his  pew,  the  student  towards  his  library, 
the  drunkard  towards  his  gin-shop.  We  never 
feel  sure  of  a  man  until  we  have  met  him  at 
his  own  fire-side,  clad  in  his  dressing-gown  and 
slippers.  If  we  happen  to  have  made  acquaint- 
ance beforehand  with  the  dressing-gown  and  fire- 
side, we  shall  already  have  gone  far  towards  get- 
ting the  measure  of  their  proprietor.  With  this 
background  to  relieve  the  figure,  a  brief  examina- 
tion will  reveal  to  us  more  than  would  protracted 
study  without  it.  But  were  it  possible  wholly  to 
isolate  a  man  from  all  surroundings,  he  would  ap- 
pear —  if  he  appeared  at  all  —  an  incomprehensi- 
ble monstrosity. 


126  SAXON   STUDIES. 

As  with  the  individual,  so  with  the  community. 
If  we  wish  to  picture  a  people  to  alien  minds,  we 
shall  do  wisely  to  eschew  direct  description  and 
analysis,  and  rather  seek  to  indicate  our  subject 
by  analogies  from  its  encompassment ;  by  sugges- 
tion, and  subtle  inference.  Otherwise,  our  ren- 
dering is  apt  to  appear  crude  and  lifeless  ;  for 
many  delicate  but  important  shades  of  character, 
too  evanescent  to  be  caught  from  the  living  man, 
are  indelibly  and  permanently  impressed  upon  the 
four  walls  between  which  his  life  is  passed. 

Men  are  a  kind  of  hieroglyphic  writing  hard  to 
decipher ;  but  they  translate  themselves  into  their 
houses,  and  we  may  read  them  there  at  our  lei- 
sure, without  danger  of  being  influenced  by  the 
sphere  of  human  personality  to  falsify  the  conclu- 
sions of  our  cool  and  sober  judgment.  A  man 
may,  by  virtue  of  his  personal  magnetism,  juggle 
me  into  the  belief  that  his  black  is  white ;  but  a 
glance  at  his  designs  in  brick  and  mortar,  at  his 
pictures  and  paper-hangings,  will  go  far  to  set  me 
right  again.  As  Emerson  would  put  it,  his  expen- 
diture is  him  ;  and  he  must  be  a  shrewd  man  in- 
deed who  can  falsify  his  expenditure. 

Now,  all  communities,  from  families  to  nations, 
have  each  their  distinctive  flavor,  insomuch  that  a 
Bostonian,  or  a  Cockney,  can  be  identified  almost 


SIDEWALKS   AND   ROADWAYS.  127 

as  readily  as  if  he  were  colored  blue  or  green.  In 
logical  correspondence  with  this  truth  is  the  fact 
that  the  material  London  or  Boston  from  which 
they  come  has  recognizable  peculiarities,  distin- 
guishing it  from  all  other  cities ;  the.  streets  and 
houses  are  so  built  and  laid  out  that  they  occupy 
a  separate  and  particular  place  in  the  memory. 
To  the  vulgar  mind  the  word  city  conveys  the 
idea  of  streets  and  houses,  and  nothing  more ;  or 
at  best  (if  they  have  read  Blackstone),  of  a  town 
which  has  or  had  something  to  do  with  a  bishop. 
Strictly  speaking,  however,  these  walls  and  pave- 
ments are  but  the  incarnation  of  the  true  city, 
which  primarily  inheres  in  the  brains  and  wills  of 
the  citizens.  Their  expenditure  being  them,  and 
the  city  being  unquestionably  their  expenditure,  it 
follows  that  the  city,  as  a  whole,  is  an  exposition 
of  the  modes  of  thought  and  temper  of  its  inhabit- 
ants. Whatever  discrepancies  exist  are  due  solely 
to  the  limitations  of  man's  control  over  matter. 
Swedenborg,  a  profounder  and  broader  seer  than 
either  Emerson  or  Blackstone,  touches  the  core  of 
the  question  when  he  says  that  cities  represent 
doctrines. 

Flesh  and  blood  being  thus  related  to  stone  and 
mortar,  the  delineator  of  the  latter  must  become 
to  some  extent  the  portrayer  of  the  former  —  a 


128  SAXON   STUDIES. 

circumstance  in  no  small  degree  to  his  advantage. 
For,  let  him  describe  what  he  will  —  a  paving- 
stone  or  a  door-knob,  a  window-blind  or  a 
church-steeple  —  he  can  always  rebut  the  charge 
of  triviality  by  admonishing  the  critic  of  a  hidden 
symbolism  contained  in  the  passage,  the  vital  sig- 
nificance of  which  only  ignorance  or  levity  could 
overlook.  And  if,  in  the  course  of  his  narrative, 
he  happen  upon  some  hit  of  personal  gossip,  some 
human  characteristic,  humorous  or  pathetic,  let 
him  admit  it  without  fear  of  inconsistency ;  it  is 
but  a  more  direct  and  undisguised  method  of 
painting  a  Dutch  interior,  or  of  giving  relief  and 
solidity  to  his  sketch  gf  yonder  picturesque  old 
castle  turret. 

In  these  days  of  the  ballot,  and  of  universal 
suffrage,  some  enthusiastic  elector  may  object, 
that  the  true  representatives  of  a  people's  doc- 
trines are,  not  the  cities  they  live  in,  but  the 
gentlemen  they  return  to  Congress  or  to  Parlia- 
ment ;  and  that,  consequently,  a  detailed  analysis 
of  these  gentlemen's  character  and  personal  appear- 
ance will  serve  "all  the  purposes  of  a  moral  and  ma- 
terial estimate  of  the  towns  which  they  represent. 
Fifth  Avenue  —  or  Mayfair,  as  the  case  might  be 
—  would  be  discoverable  in  the  representative's 
high  arched  nose ;  Wall  Street,  or  Lombard  Street, 


SIDEWALKS   AND   ROADWAYS.  129 

in  the  calculating  glance  of  his  sharp  eyes  ;  Five 
Points,  or  Seven  Dials,  in  the  ungainly  shape  of 
his  mouth  and  his  feet.  His  intellectual  and  af- 
fectional  nature  would  be  a  compendium  of  his 
electors',  no  less  than  his  political  opinions  and 
prejudices.  And  the  biography  of  the  man  would 
be  a  symbolic  history  of  the  city. 

The  suggestion  is  a  valuable  one,  but  action 
upon  it  would  at  present  be  premature.  Every 
man  is  a  microcosm,  but  some  advance  must  be 
made  in  uniformity  of  condition  and  opinion,  and 
in  consistency  of  belief,  before  it  would  be  possible 
for  him,  humanly  speaking,  to  become  a  micropolis. 
His  incongruities  would  kill  him,  in  real  life ;  even 
the  creations  of  modern  fiction  could  scarcely  fulfil 
the  exigencies  of  the  position.  Moreover,  granting 
our  micropolis,  there  is  still  a  heavy  deficiency  to 
be  made  up  in  our  capacities  for  analyzing  him. 
Though  our  insight  may  be  keen  enough  to  distin- 
guish the  business  quarters  of  his  town  from  the 
aristocratic  or  plebeian  ones,  as  portrayed  in  his 
features ;  yet,  when  we  descended  to  the  minutiae 
upon  which  the  general  effect  in  so  great  measure 
depends,  we  should  be  apt  to  find  ourselves  at 
fault.  Where,  for  instance,  should  we  find  recorded 
the  order  of  architecture  of  the  city  hall  ?  or  how 
determine  whether  the  streets  were  stone-paved  or 

9 


130  SAXON  STUDIES. 

macadamized  ?  But  science,  and  the  enlightenment 
of  the  masses,  can  work  miracles  ;  and  far  be  it 
from  us  to  question  its  ultimate  mastery  of  trifles 
such  as  these.  Meanwhile,  however,  we  are  fain 
to  continue  our  lucubrations  under  the  first-men- 
tioned system. 


SIDEWALKS   AND   ROADWAYS.  131 


II. 

IT  would  be  of  convenience  to  me  could  I  declare 
at  the  outset  what  the  distinctive  characteristics  of 
Dresden  streets  and  houses  are :  whether  the  streets 
were  all  narrow,  dark,  and  devious ;  or  broad, 
straight,  and  open  :  whether  the  houses  were  inva- 
riably gabled,  quaint,  and  crooked  ;  or  erect,  fair- 
proportioned,  and  spacious  :  whether  the  city  were 
one  of  magnificent  distances,  or  contracted  within 
the  limits  of  a  bow-shot.  Unfortunately  any  such 
definite  generalities  are  out  of  place  in  speaking 
of  Dresden.  Its  only  distinctive  characteristics,  so 
far  as  my  observation  goes,  are  its  ubiquitous  evil 
odor  and  its  omnipresent  dirty  plaster.  For  the 
rest,  what  it  asserts  in  one  quarter  it  contradicts 
in  another,  and  hardly  allows  us  finally  to  make 
up  our  mind  to  either  condemnation  or  approval. 

There  is  one  thoroughfare  which,  under  five  dif- 
ferent names,  traverses  the  city  from  north  to 
south,  as  a  diameter  its  circle.  This  fickleness  in 
the  matter  of  names  becomes  less  surprising  when 
we  consider  that  the  street  has  been  several  centu- 


132  SAXON   STUDIES. 

ries  growing,  and  that  its  course  takes  it  through 
nearly  every  phase  of  life  which  the  city  affords, 
excepting  only  the  lowest.  Traversing  its  two  or 
three  miles  of  length  from  end  to  end,  we  shall 
make  as  thorough  an  acquaintance  with  the  genius 
of  Dresden  streets  as  it  suits  our  purposes  to  do. 
If  once  or  twice  we  make  a  short  incursion  to  the 
right  or  left,  it  will  only  be  for  the  end  of  recrea- 
tion. 

It  begins  —  locally  if  not  chronologically  speak- 
ing—  in  the  Neustadt,  on  the  northern  bank  of 
the  Elbe,  being  known  there  as  the  Haupt  Strasse. 
Considered  in  itself,  this  Haupt  Strasse  is  the 
finest  street  in  Dresden.  It  is  sixty  yards  or  more 
in  width,  and  nearly  a  mile  long ;  down  its  centre 
runs  a  broad  walk  bordered  with  trees  ;  on  either 
side  is  a  carriage-way  and  sidewalks.  But  the 
street  dwarfs  the  houses  which  are  here  quite  low 
and  mean,  and  shops  into  the  bargain.  Shops  and, 
still  more,  shop-signs,  however  intrinsically  attract- 
ive and  brilliant,  are  not  consonant  with  architect- 
ural dignity  ;  and  these  Saxon  shop-signs,  with 
their  impossible  names  and  grotesque  announce- 
ments, would  turn  a  street  of  Parthenons  to  ridi- 
cule. The  Haupt  Strasse  merges  at  either  extrem- 
ity into  an  open  place  or  square,  that  towards  the 
northwest  presided  over  by  the  new  Albert  Thea- 


SIDEWALKS   AND   ROADWAYS.  133 

ter,  while  the  southwestern  one  is  forced  to  be 
content  with  that  foolish  old  Augustus,  surnamed 
the  Strong  —  bare-headed,  bare-armed,  bare-legged, 
and  astride  of  an  incredible  steed  which  squats  on 
its  hind  legs,  and  paws  the  air  with  its  fore-feet 
like  a  gigantic  kangaroo.  Standing  in  the  shadow 
of  this  worthy,  we  see  the  street  pass  on  over  the 
ancient  bridge  to  the  Altstadt ;  on  our  left,  across 
the  market-place,  is  the  hospitable  door  of  our  old 
friend  Werthrnann's  beer-saloon,  while  nearly  in 
front  of  us  lies  the  black  guard-house,  like  a  sullen 
mastiff,  whose  teeth  are  the  stacked  arms  glittering 
before  the  entrance,  while  his  eyes  are  the  sentry 
pacing  his  short  beat  to  and  fro,  on  the  lookout  for 
officers  and  royal  carriages. 

If  the  street  dwarfs  its  houses,  it  pushes  its  side- 
walks out  of  sight.  Dresden  is  sometimes  said  to 
bear  a  distant  resemblance  to  Florence ;  and,  hear- 
ing this,  the  Dresdeners  perhaps  thought  it  incum- 
bent upon  them  to  dispense  with  all  invidious  dis- 
tinctions between  road  and  footway.  But  they 
proceeded  upon  a  mistaken  principle  in  so  doing ; 
for  whereas  in  Florence  the  streets  are  all  sidewalk, 
in  Dresden  the  sidewalks  are  all  street,  or  nearly  so. 
The  houses  edge  forward  their  broad  stone  toes  to- 
wards the  curb,  and  often  quite  overstep  it ;  or,  if 
otherwise,  the  path  is  mounded  up  to  such  a  tick- 
lish height,  that  walking  upon  it  becomes  precari- 


134  SAXON  STUDIES. 

ous.  In  some  districts,  the  matter  is  compromised 
by  putting  the  sidewalk  in  the  centre  of  the  street, 
where  it  ekes  out  a  slender  existence,  forming,  on 
rainy  days,  the  bed  of  an  unsavory  little  torrent 
which  bears  away  in  its  current  such  domestic  su- 
,  perfluities  as  the  adjoining  houses  find  it  inconve- 
nient to  retain. 

This,  however,  more  accurately  describes  the 
condition  of  things  ten  years  ago.  An  improve- 
ment-spasm has  seized  Dresden  of  late,  and  side- 
walks have  begun  to  broaden  here  and  there,  and 
laws  have  been  made  as  to  the  conditions  under 
which  they  are  to  be  used,  which  are  rigidly  en- 
forced by  the  police.  It  is  observable,  nevertheless, 
that  although  sidewalks  are  coming  into  existence, 
the  Dresdeners  either  do  not  know  how  to  use 
them,  or  do  not  much  care  to  do  so ;  they  prefer 
the  pavement.  They  stray  on  to  the  sidewalk  in 
an  incidental  sort  of  way,  but  do  not  find  them- 
selves at  home  there,  and  soon  return  to  the  gut- 
ter. To  a  foreign  mind  a  sidewalk  is  desirable 
not  so  much  on  account  of  its  utility  as  because  it 
assists,  like  a  decent  hat  and  coat,  in  the  preserva- 
tion of  a  certain  self-respect  and  dignity.  As  men, 
we  wish  to  separate  ourselves  as  far  as  we  may 
from  the  chaos  of  the  roadway,,  where  we  are  on 
no  better  a  footing  than  the  dogs,  horses,  peasant- 


SIDEWALKS   AND  ROADWAYS.  135 

women,  and  other  draught  animals.  Sidewalks  are, 
in  our  view,  the  etiquette  —  the  courtesy  of  streets  ; 
as  significant  there  as  tasteful  upholstery  in  a 
drawing-room.  The  Saxon,  however,  either  has  a 
soul  above  such  considerations,  or,  shall  we  say  ? 
alien  to  them. 

Be  it  said,  meanwhile,  that  the  streets  are  kept 
from  dirt  to  an  extent  that  would  astonish  a 
Cockney,  or  even  a  New  Yorker.  This  is  partly 
due,  of  course,  to  the  circumstance  that  there  is 
comparatively  little  traffic  in  the  city,  and  the  dirt 
never  has  a  fair  show  as  against  the  cleansers. 
Possibly,  since  every  case  has  two  sides,  something 
might  be  said  in  defence  of  streets  which  have  a 
strong  tendency  to  get  dirty.  A  street  without 
dirt  is  like  a  man  without  blood  —  pallid,  forlorn, 
and  lacking  vigor.  Nobody,  let  us  hope,  likes 
unclean  streets  ;  but  perhaps  some  people  have  a 
secret  partiality  for  streets  which  demand  incessant 
toil  and  struggle  to  keep  them  pure,  and  thereby 
prove  their  possession  of  energetic  life  and  power- 
ful vitality.  No  dead  streets  should  be  allowed  in 
this  busy  world  ;  when  they  cease  to  be  thronged, 
they  cease  to  have  an  excuse  for  being  at  all. 
The  same  is  true  of  houses,  of  which  many  in 
Dresden  are  lifeless  shells,  or  nearly  so.  They 
look  like  empty,  ugly,  overgrown  hotels  ;  no  hu- 


136  SAXON   STUDIES. 

man  life  and  bustle  informs  them.  They  would 
seem  to  have  been  born  insignificant,  and  subse- 
quently, for  no  sufficient  reason,  to  have  expanded 
into  gawky  giantship.  In  this  respect  they  might 
be  compared  with  the  Saxon  people,  who  possess 
no  qualities  to  warrant  their  rising  above  pygmy- 
dom,  but  whom  an  ironic  freak  of  destiny  has  up- 
lifted to  a  foremost  place  among  nations.  They 
should  be  taken  down  and  reconstructed  upon  a 
smaller  and  more  economic  scale. 

This,  however,  is  by  the  way.  I  wish  to  re- 
mark that  there  is  something  peculiar  about  Dres- 
den cleanliness  —  I  had  almost  said,  something 
horrible ;  for  though  streets,  entrance-halls,  and 
stairways  are  washed,  brushed,  and  put  in  order 
with  .as  much  careful  regularity  as  if  they  were 
race-horses,  they  are  not  the  less  pervaded  by  a 
strange  and  most  unwelcome  odor,  which  nothing 
will  eradicate.  It  arouses  the  darkest  suspicions, 
though  every  ocular  appearance  be  calculated  to 
inspire  confidence.  However  spotless  the  outside 
may  seem  to  the  eye,  the  nose  is  not  to  be  be- 
guiled; there  must  be  impurity  somewhere.  And 
surely  there  is  something  horrible  about  a  thing 
that  looks  clean  and  yet  smells  badly.  What 
pleases  the  sight  is  the  more  bound  to  gratify  the 
nostrils.  Noblesse  oblige. 


SIDEWALKS   AND   ROADWAYS.  137 

Now,  in  connection  with  this  circumstance,  is  to 
be  taken  another,  the  explanation  of  which  will,  I 
think,  solve  the  whole  mystery.  If  we  pass  from 
the  clean  exterior  of  a  Saxon's  house  to  its  interior, 
we  shall  find  his  drawing-room  somewhat  less  im- 
maculate than  his  passage,  his  dining-room  than 
his  drawing-room,  his  bed-chamber  than  his  dining- 
room  ;  while  he  himself  is  by  far  the  least  im- 
maculate of  all,  tried  whether  by  nose  or  eye  — 
there  is  no  whited  sepulchre  about  him,  at  all 
events.  An  evil  odor  is  something  which  only  in- 
ward cleanliness,  working  outward,  can  remove. 
Men  are  more  apt  to  desire  that  their  emanations, 
their  works,  their  expressed  and  embodied  thoughts, 
should  appear  pure,  than  that  their  proper  selves 
should  be  so.  Their  surroundings,  they  argue,  are 
more  seen  than  they ;  and  it  is  their  continual  de- 
lusion that  though  their  actions,  having  once  been 
acted,  are  no  longer  to  be  concealed,  yet  it  is  al- 
ways easy  to  hide  themselves.  The  Saxon,  conse- 
quently, diligently  expends  his  lustrative  energies 
upon  his  street  and  stairway,  but  never  thinks  of 
washing  his  own  shirt.  Of  the  omnipresent  evil 
odor  he  is  never  conscious,  but  it  is  the  very  es- 
sence and  betrayal  of  the  whole  matter.  Dogs  are 
more  sagacious  ;  do  not  trust  to  ocular  appearances ; 
the  cloven  foot  of  the  devil  would  not  move  them  ; 


138  SAXON   STUDIES. 

but  let  them  once  get  to  leeward  of  him,  and  he 
stands  convicted  in  a  moment.  He,  in  his  inno- 
cence, would  probably  be  at  far  greater  pains  to 
cover  those  awkward  hoofs  of  his  than  to  determine 
the  direction  of  the  wind.  But  it  is  by  oversights 
such  as  this  that  so  many  honest  people  get  into 
trouble. 


SIDEWALKS   AND   ROADWAYS.  139 


III. 

THE  ancient  bridge  which  joins  Haupt  Strasse  to 
the  Schloss-Platz  is  the  only  respectable  piece  of  ar- 
chitecture in  Dresden.  But  it  seems  nearly  impos- 
sible to  make  an  ugly  bridge.  Its  necessity  is  to 
produce  an  impression  of  combined  lightness  and 
power  —  of  one  kind  of  strength  overcoming  an- 
other —  which  is  the  essence  of  vitality.  It  requires 
genius  to  erect  an  edifice  which  shall  appear  other 
than  dead,  but  to  build  a  lifeless  bridge  would  need 
almost  as  much  talent  perverted.  Man  has  seldom 
made  anything  so  flattering  at  once  to  the  eye  and  to 
the  self-esteem  of  his  kind.  For  bridges  are  fascinat- 
ing not  only  at  a  distance  ;  it  is  a  triumph  even 
greater  to  stand  upon  them  and  watch  the  baffled 
current  fret  vainly  below,  slipping  helpless  past  the 
sturdy  feet  of  the  piers,  and  hurrying  in  confusion 
away  beneath  the  shadow  of  the  arches.  Here  is  a 
direct  and  palpable  victory  gained  over  Nature,  less 
exhilarating,  no  doubt,  than  a  ship's,  but  more  as- 
sured. As  we  saunter  across  the  pavement,  firm  in 
mid-air,  we  mentally  exult  in  our  easy  superiority 


140  SAXON   STUDIES. 

to  the  discomfort  and  peril  from  whicn  we  are 
protected.  In  every  step  we  feel  the  whole  pride  of 
the  builders  in  their  accomplished  work.  Behold- 
ing the  swirling  charge  of  the  river  down  upon  us, 
we  half-consciously  identify  ourselves  with  the  mas- 
sive masonry,  and  share  its  .defiance  of  the  onset. 

Yet  it  behooves  our  pride  not  to  overween  too  far, 
since  the  immortal  river  must  in  the  end  overcome  its 
stubborn  old  adversary.  Indeed,  one  pier  already 
succumbed,  in  days  gone  by,  to  the  terrific  down- 
rush  of  a  spring  flood,  armed  with  huge  battering- 
rams  of  ice.  I  have  myself  often  watched  great 
ice-slabs  come  sweeping  on  and  dash  harsh-splinter- 
ing against  the  buttresses,  and  pile  themselves  sud- 
denly up  on  one  another's  hoary  shoulders,  as  if  to 
scale  the  angry  ramparts.  But,  though  seeing,  I 
could  never  feel  the  shock,  or  fancy  the  bridge  endan- 
gered. In  great  freshets,  however,  when  the  river 
boils  upwards  to  the  keystone  and  higher,  the  push 
must  be  like  that  of  a  giant's  hand.  The  arches  are 
narrow,  so  that  the  stout  piers  seem  to  have  pressed 
close  to  one  another  for  mutual  support ;  they  stand 
foot  to  foot,  and  shoulder  to  shoulder,  close  embattled 
against  their  interminable  foe.  It  is  sad  to  think  that 
the  successful  contest  of  hundreds  of  years  must  issue 
in  ultimate  defeat.  It  will  be  broken,  one  day  — 
that  rigid  phalanx  ;  first  one  and  then  another  an- 


SIDEWALKS   AND   ROADWAYS.  141 

cient  warrior  will  crumble  away,  conquered  but  not 
subdued,  and  their  stony  remains  will  stand,  for  cent- 
uries longer,  in  the  river  bed  where  they  fought ; 
and  a  future  age  will  dig  up  their  foundation-piles, 
and  out  of  them  build  a  theory  of  a  city  which  lay 
on  the  river  banks  some  time  in  the  prehistoric  past. 

The  bridge  is  not  a  wide  one,  but  the  summits  of 
the  outstanding  piers  are  furnished  with  a  semicircle 
of  stone  bench,  which  makes  them  look  particularly 
comfortable  on  midsummer  afternoons.  Were  Dres- 
den Florence  indeed,  these  recesses  would  be  spread 
two-deep  with  lazy  lazzaroni  all  day  long.  But 
somehow  or  other  (though  heaven  "knows  there  is 
little  enough  briskness  or  wide-awakeness  in  them), 
Saxons  never  lie  about  in  picturesque  attitudes,  with 
their  hat-brims  drawn  over  their  eyes.  Saxons  can- 
not be  picturesque,  and  would  only  dislocate  their 
joints  if  they  tried  to  be  so.  To  be  picturesque  re- 
quires an  unconscious  audacity  of  nature,  and  disre- 
gard of  the  rules  of  vulgar  conventionalism,  or,  better 
still,  ignorance  of  them.  But  vulgar  conventional- 
ism is  our  Saxon  hero's  best  virtue;  when  he  aban- 
dons it,  he  becomes,  not  picturesque,  but  brutal. 
However,  tired  and  shabby  people  do  sometimes 
sit  down  on  these  stone  benches,  with  due  heed  to 
the  police  regulations  ;  so  let  us  not  be  ungrateful. 

The  law  of  keep-to-the-right,  which  is  strictly  en 


142  SAXON   STUDIES. 

forced  on  this  bridge,  throws  light  on  some  of  the 
traits  both  of  the  Government  and  the  governed: 
The  scheme  works  admirably ;  there  is  never  any 
jostling  or  hindrance  ;  we  roll  along  with  our  backs 
all  turned  to  one  another,  and  entirely  relieved  from 
the  responsibility  of  self-guidance.  But  we  pay  the 
penalty  of  this  sweet  immunity  as  soon  as  we  get 
beyond  the  law's  jurisdiction.  We  are  run  into  so 
constantly  that  it  seems  as  though  the  world  had 
conspired  against  us.  Everybody  appears  bent  upon 
button-hole-ing  us  on  particular  business.  If  there 
be  a  moderate  crowd  in  the  streets,  no  amount  of 
agility  in  dodging  will  enable  us  to  get  on  fast ;  either 
we  must  shoulder  down  every  one  we  meet,  or  else 
resign  ourselves  to  a  mile  and  a  half  per  hour.  It  is 
useless  to  blame  the  Saxons  for  this  —  they  cannot 
help  it.  They  are  so  accustomed  to  walking  through 
life  with  the  policeman's  hand  on  their  coat-collar, 
that  when  his  grasp  is  relaxed  they  stray  without 
helm  or  compass,  and  could  not  get  out  of  the  way 
of  the  devil,  if  he  happened  to  be  in  their  path.  A 
fairer  mark  for  criticism  is  their  lack  of  that  Ameri- 
can or  English  sense  of  humor  which  alone  can  com- 
pensate for  the  annoyance  of  such  encounters.  To  be 
easily  put  out  or  insulted,  cannot  be  said  to  prove  a 
lofty  magnanimity.  How  we  like  men  who  can  be 
amused  where  most  people  would  get  in  a  passion  I 


SIDEWALKS   AND   ROADWAYS.  143 

Such  men  are  stout-souled  and  self-respectful ;  but 
thin  patiences  proclaim  meagre  natures.  And  a 
Saxon  crowd  is  deficient  not  in  temper  only.  There 
is  in  the  world  none  to  which  I  would  less  will- 
ingly trust  a  lady.  As  I  have  before  had  occasion 
to  point  out,  the  Saxons  are  a  strictly  logical  peo- 
ple ;  they  have  sufficient  intelligence  to  understand 
that  woman  is  the  weaker  vessel  ;  and  if  she  be 
unprotected,  the  syllogism  is  complete  ;  over  she 
goes  into  the  gutter,  and  let  her  thank  her  stars 
if  no  worse  befall  her. 

At  night  the  bridge  is  lit  with  a  double  row  of 
lamps ;  and,  seen  from  a  distance,  the  dark  arches 
vanish,  and  the  fire-points  seem  strung  upon  a 
thread,  and  suspended  high  over  the  river,  which 
lovingly  repeats  them.  Reflected  in  water,  fire  en- 
riches both  its  mirror  and  itself  —  like  truth  dis- 
cerned in  the  shadowy  bosom  of  allegory.  But  the 
Saxons  are  thrifty  souls,  who  do  not  believe  in 
letting  their  lights  shine  before  men,  after  the 
hour  when  sober  citizens  should  be  abed.  Accord- 
ingly, one  half  of  them  are  extinguished  by  eleven 
o'clock,  and  the  remainder  two  or  three  hours 
later.  There  is  nothing  more  strongly  suggestive 
of  incorrigible  death  than  a  street-lamp  put  out 
before  daylight.  It  is  the  more  forlorn  because  it 
had  been  so  cheerful.  No  belated  traveller  needs 


144  SAXON   STUDIES. 

other  companions,  if  he  be  provided  with  an  occa- 
sional lamp  along  his  way.  It  shines  and  wavers 
and  has  in  it  the  marvellous  sun-born  quality  of 
positive  life ;  it  warms  and  burns  like  his  own 
household  fire,  and  is  thus  a  link  between  his  home 
and  him ;  it  brings  memories  of  genial  hours,  and 
doubly  lights  his  way.  The  most  natural  god  of 
fallen  man  was  Fire ;  his  was  an  ardent,  and 
withal  a  poetic  and  refined  religion.  Perhaps  we 
should  be  no  worse  off  were  there  more  men,  now- 
adays, simple  and  reverent  enough  to  reinstate  his 
worship.  They  would  possibly  be  no  farther  from 
the  ultimate  truth  than  were  they  to  evolve  God 
from  philosophical  mud-pies  and  Chaos. 


SIDEWALKS   AND   ROADWAYS.  145 


IV. 

HAVING  crossed  the  bridge,  and  walked  the  length 
of  a  melancholy  Droschkey-stand,  we  reach  the 
Georgen  Thor  —  the  triple  archway,  beneath  which 
entrance  is  made  into  Dresden  proper  —  which  is 
the  very  nucleus  of  quaint  antiquarian  interest. 
Let  us  therefore  pause  a  moment  to  admire,  before 
proceeding  farther. 

That  the  archway  is  not  ornamental  must  be 
admitted,  but  its  parent  was  Necessity,  not  Art. 
The  way  of  it  was  this :  Once  upon  a  time,  but 
for  no  good  reason  that  I  ever  heard,  a  Royal  Pal- 
ace was  born  into  the  world  ;  and,  as  luck  would 
have  it,  in  Dresden.  A  more  awkward,  flat-faced, 
shapless,  insufferable  barn  of  a  Royal  Palace  was 
never  before  smeared  with  yellow  plaster.  Never- 
theless, like  other  ill  weeds,  it  grew  apace  ;  and, 
before  long,  had  sprawled  itself  over  a  good  part 
of  the  city ;  but  as  there  happened  to  be  plenty 
of  waste  land  thereabouts,  which  people  thought 
might  be  covered  with  one  kind  of  rubbish  as  well 
as  with  another,  nothing  was  said,  and  the  Royal 


146  SAXON   STUDIES. 

Palace  went  on  growing  bigger  and  uglier  every 
day.  At  length,  however,  it  began  to  approach  the 
main  thoroughfare  of  the  city,  and  actually  seemed 
to  threaten  interference  with  the  popular  freedom  of 
traffic.  Now,  indeed,  the  wiseacres  began  to  shake 
their  heads,  and  whisper  to  one  another  that  they 
should  have  fenced  the  Royal  Palace  in  while  it 
was  yet  young,  and  have  obliged  it  to  agree  never 
to  exceed  reasonable  bounds,  and  on  no  account  to 
interfere  with  the  lawful  public  freedom.  But, 
alas !  their  wisdom  came  too  late ;  for  what  was 
their  consternation,  on  waking  up  one  morning,  at 
finding  that  this  ugly,  good-for-nothing,  bare-faced 
Royal  Palace  had  grown  clear  across  their  main 
thoroughfare,  and  then,  to  prevent  its  flank  from 
being  turned,  it  had  scrambled  hastily  down  a  side 
street,  and  made  fast  its  farther  end  to  a  great 
sulky  block  of  a  building,  nearly  a  quarter  of  a 
mile  off!  All  direct  access  to  the  market-place 
was  thus  obstructed,  and  the  city  lay  prone  be- 
neath the  foot  of  this  intolerable  Royal  Palace. 
And  so,  doubtless,  would  it  have  remained  to  the 
present  day,  had  it  not  been  for  the  fairy  god- 
mother, Necessity.  That  redoubtable  old  person- 
age, who  has  the  valuable  quality  of  always  being 
on  hand  when  she  is  wanted,  was  not  long  in 
making  her  appearance ;  and,  seeing  how  matters 


SIDEWALKS   AND   ROADWAYS.  147 

lay,  with  her  customary  readiness  of  resource,  she 
thrust  three  of  her  long  fingers  directly  through 
the  body  of  the  Royal  Palace,  thereby  opening  a 
way  for  the  people  to  run  to  and  fro  as  before. 
So  the  people  exulted,  freedom  of  traffic  was  re- 
stored, and  the  lubberly  Palace  was  obliged  to  put 
the  best  possible  face  upon  its  discomfiture.  This 
it  literally  accomplished  by  setting  the  royal  coat- 
of-arms  over  the  tunnel,  by  declaring  that  it  had 
itself  caused  the  tunnel  to  be  made  for  the  good 
of  the  people,  and  by  christening  it  "  George's 
Gate  ; "  though  why  not  "  Limited-Monarchy  Gate," 
or  even  "  Conservative-Republican  Gate,"  I  never 
was  able  to  discover.  But  it  is  said  that  the 
Royal  ,  Palace  never  grew  any  more  after  that 
deadly  thrust  given  it  by  Necessity ;  nay,  there  are 
those  who  maintain  that  it  is  beginning  to  dwindle 
away,  and  who  cherish  hopes  of  finally  getting  rid 
of  it  altogether.  Meanwhile,  however,  this  is  the 
end  of  the  story ;  and  the  moral  is  in  the  story 
itself. 

Like  many  seeming  misfortunes,  this  triple  tun- 
nel is  of  more  service  to  Dresden  than  an  unob- 
structed roadway  would  have  been  :  it  is  so  delight- 
fully grotesque,  mediaeval,  and  mysterious.  Its 
low-browed  arches,  as  our  imagination  peeps  be- 
neath them,  lend  the  city  beyond  a  peculiar  flavor 


148  SAXON  STUDIES. 

of  romance.  Passing  through  the  dusky  groined 
passage-way,  we  seem  to  enter  an  interior  world ; 
we  bid  farewell  to  the  upper  life,  and  greet  the 
narrow  strip  of  sky  which  shows  between  the 
high-shouldered  roofs  of  the  antique  houses,  as  the 
first  glimpse  of  a  firmament  hitherto  unknown. 
That  ideal  German  life  —  foreshadowed  in  nursery 
songs  and  story-books  —  is  now  on  the  point  of 
realization ;  we  keep  our  eyes  open,  half  expecting 
to  encounter  a  gnome  or  a  good-natured  giant  at 
every  step,  and  are  not  a  little  indignant  at  meet- 
ing so  many  people  with  every-day  dresses  on. 
We  made  the  most  out  of  the  old-fashioned  black 
and  yellow  uniforms  of  the  Royal  messengers,  the 
scanty  petticoats  of  the  bare-legged  peasant  girls, 
and  the  spiked  helmets  of  the  soldiery;.  We  re- 
joice in  the  narrow  gloom  of  the  by-ways,  in  the 
gabled  unevenness  of  the  houses,  in  the  fantastic 
enchantment  of  the  shop-windows.  And  by  the 
time  we  have  traversed  Schloss-Strasse  and  reached 
the  Alt-Markt,  we  are  ready  to  pronounce  Dresden 
the  genuine  German  Eldorado. 

Here,  however,  the  real  old  city  comes  to  an 
end,  and  disenchantment  grows  upon  us  at  every 
fresh  step ;  until,  having  wandered  down  See 
Strasse  and  Prager  Strasse,  and,  from  the  verge  of 
the  railway,  cast  a  glance  at  the  brand-new  block 


SIDEWALKS   AND   ROADWAYS.  149 

of  sandstone  palaces  on  the  farther  side,  fronting 
the  Reich  Strasse  and  the  Bismark  Platz,  we  dis- 
cover -  that  the  romantic  charm  wrought  upon  us 
by  the  mysterious  old  archway  has  quite  worn  off, 
and,  alas !  is  never  to  be  Conjured  back  again. 
Once  more  we  reiterate  it  —  would  that  mankind 
knew  where  to  stop  !  Dresden,  with  all  its  faults, 
might  at  least  have  remained  Dresden  ;  but  these 
monstrous  outgrowths  throw  contempt  not  only 
upon  the  quaint  simplicity  of  the  original  town, 
but  still  more  upon  themselves  for  pretending  to 
belong  to  it. 

Let  us  saunter  back  to  the  Alt-Markt,  which  is 
full  of  suggestions.  On  our  way  we  may  observe, 
at  the  entrance  of  more  than  one  street,  a  bit  of 
board  nailed  to  a  stick,  bearing  the  announcement, 
"  Strasse  Gesperrt."  Let  no  rude  hoof  approach, 
no  wheel  invade.  The  poor  street  is  diseased,  and 
the  surgeons  are  at  work  upon  it.  This  warning- 
off  lends  a  peculiar  interest  to  the  forbidden  spot; 
for  the  first  time  we  feel  impelled  to  make  it  a 
visit.  Still  more  remarkable  is  the  fascination  at- 
taching to  empty  house  lots,  so  soon  as  they  are 
boarded  up  preparatory  to  beginning  building.  I 
know  no  place  of  public  entertainment  more  sedu- 
lously visited.  The  moment  the  screen  is  well  up, 
each  knot-hole  and  crack  becomes  a  prize  to  be 


150  SAXON   STUDIES. 

schemed  and  fought  for.  Staid  citizens,  anxious 
business  men,  blase  men  of  the  world,  will  pause 
for  half  an  hour,  eagerly  scrutinizing  a  bed  of 
slaked  lime,  a  pile  of  bricks  under  a  shed,  a  couple 
of  dirty  ladders  leaning  against  a  maze  of  scaffold- 
ing, half  a  dozen  old  wheelbarrows,  and  as  many 
workmen  leisurely  building  a  house,  with  a  pipe  of 
tobacco  and  a  can  of  beer  each.  The  fairest  cory- 
phees of  a  ballet  would  be  vain  of  half  the  atten- 
tion which  these  fellows  receive.  The  explanation 
is  to  be  sought  not  only  in  the  perverse  instinct  to 
see  what  is  not  meant  to  be  seen ;  it  is  traceable 
likewise  to  that  universal  interest  in  the  process  of 
creation,  which  is  among  the  most  pregnant  and 
significant  traits  of  humanity.  Who  would  not 
rather  witness  a  house  being  built,  or  a  book  being 
written,  than  see  either  completed  ?  And  when 
the  process  may  be  viewed  through  surreptitious 
knot-holes,  it  is  enough  to  captivate  a  Stoic ! 

"  Strasse  Gesperrt "  is  all  too  familiar  to  Dres- 
deners.  The  city  is  forever  undergoing  disembow- 
elment ;  some  part  of  her  internal  economy  is 
chronically  out  of  kelter.  It  is  the  curse  of  Dres- 
den that  she  is  founded  upon  a  rock ;  she  lies  in 
a  granite  basin,  and  can  never  get  rid  of  her  in- 
iquities. So  imbued  is  her  soil  with  impurity,  the 
hero  of  the  Augean  stables  himself  would  be  baffled 


SIDEWALKS   AND   ROADWAYS.  151 

by  it.  Bad  as  is  the  disease,  however,  the  reme- 
•dies  do  but  complicate  it.  The  Dresdeners  appear 
to  have  an  actual  mania  for  hacking  at  their  moth- 
er's entrails,  but  their  unnatural  conduct  inflicts  its' 
own  penalty.  Her  disease  is  contagious ;  not  earth 
only  is  thrown  up  out  of  these  trenches,  but  fever 
and  small-pox  likewise,  whereof  many  die  each 
year,  the  rich  scarcely  less  often  than  the  poor.  I 
mention  this  because  I  believe  it  to  be  little  known. 
The  authorities,  who  are  wise  in  their  generation, 
so  manage  their  reports  that  even  the  dying  can 
hardly  bring  themselves  to  believe  there  is  really 
anything  the  matter  with  them.  The  only  melio- 
rator,  as  has  been  already  hinted,  is  the  fierce 
north  wind  which  at  certain  seasons,  as  if  out  of 
all  patience  with  the  foul  atmosphere,  sweeps 
madly  through  the  city,  bringing  down  tiles  and 
chimneys,  wrenching  off  windows,  blowing  away 
people's  hats,  upsetting  boats  on  the  river  and  om- 
nibuses on  the  bridge.  Perhaps  a  desire  to  get 
through  with  its  job  as  quickly  as  possible  adds 
impetus  to  the  blast.  But  the  fallacy  that  Dres- 
den is  a  healthy  residence  must  be  exploded.  In 
addition  to  its  feverish  soil,  it  possesses  one  of  the 
most  trying  climates  in  the  world.  They  say  the 
climate  used  formerly  to  be  better,  which  is  cer- 
tainly more  credible  than  that  it  was  ever  worse. 


152  SAXON   STUDIES. 


V. 

A  LITTLE  way  down  one  of  the  most  unsavory 
side-streets  stands  a  pump,  from  which,  oddly 
enough,  is  obtained  the  best  water  in  the  city.  To 
be  sure,  that  is  not  saying  much ;  for  the  best  wa- 
ter is  quite  undrinkable,  and  cannot  be  used,  even 
for  washing  purposes,  until  after  it  has  been  boiled. 
The  pump  is  made  of  iron,  with  ornamental  mould- 
ings, has  a  long  curved  tail,  well  polished  by  the 
friction  of  many  hands,  and  a  straight  nose,  with 
a  single  nostril  underneath ;  so  that  the  stream  does 
not  issue  forth  in  a  sparkling  arch,  after  the  grace- 
ful old  fashion,  but  gushes  straight  down  at  right 
angles  —  probably  a  more  convenient  arrangement. 
Although  the  pump  itself  may  not  be  up  to  our 
ideal  in  Faust,  the  group  of  Dienstmaedchen  which 
gathers  round  it  at  water-drawing  hours,  is  none 
the  less  pleasant  to  contemplate.  They  assemble 
from  far  and  near,  a  wooden  pitcher  in  each  hand, 
their  heads  and  arms  bare,  their  skirts  tucked  up, 
full  of  free  motion,  relaxation,  and  fun.  Ever  since 
Rebecca's  time,  who  has  not  enjoyed  the  spectacle 


^IDEWALKS   AND   ROADWAYS.  153 

of  young  women  at  a  spring?  How  graceful  and 
feminine  all  their  movements  are,  whether  stand- 
ing in  good-humored  gossip,  awaiting  their  turn; 
or  stooping  to  place  the  pitcher  beneath  the  spout ; 
or  lending  vigorous  strokes  to  the  long  pump-han- 
dle ;  or  tripping  stoutly  away  with  their  fresh- 
sparkling  burden,  splashing  it  ever  and  anon  upon 
the  pavement  as  they  go  !  They  seem  especially  to 
enjoy  themselves  at  the  water-drawing,  as  though 
it  were  an  employment  peculiarly  suited  to  them. 
And  so  it  is ;  men  look  as  awkward  at  a  pump  as 
women  graceful.  To  do  the  Saxon  men  justice, 
they  never  affront  good  taste  in  this  matter,  if 
there  be  a  woman  anywhere  in  the  neighborhood 
to  do  their  pumping  for  them. 

Women  have  been  compared  with  water  as  to 
some  of  their  qualities  ;  but  I  think  the  two  in 
many  ways  complements  of  each  other,  and  this 
may  be  the  reason  their  association  produces  so 
complete  and  satisfying  an  effect.  Sea-born  Aphro- 
dite had  been  less  beautiful  as  a  child  of  earth  ; 
and  I  would  rather  see  a  naiad  than  a  hamadryad, 
for  instance.  Depend  upon  it,  women  are  never 
more  dangerous  than  at  a  fountain  or  by  the  sea- 
shore, as  Cupid's  statistics  would  easily  prove ; 
and  does  not  this  lend  an  additional  touch  of 
pathos  to  the  thought  that  women  are  so  apt  to 


154  SAXON   STUDIES. 

drown  themselves  when  love  deceives  them?  They 
draw  bright  water  fr&m  the  br.iny  earth  for  the 
purification  and  refreshment  of  mankind  ;  and  if 
mankind  prove  ungrateful,  a  plunge  into  the  self- 
same element  provides  their  remedy.  Speaking 
frankly,  however,  were  these  Dresden  naiads  to 
take  an  occasional  plunge  with  no  more  serious  pur- 
pose than  that  of  cleanliness,  the  chances  against 
their  being  driven  to  a  final  plunge  by  disap- 
pointed affection  would  be  materially  increased. 

Midway  between  the  pump  and  the  schoppen 
stands  the  soda-water  bottle.  The  water  is  manu- 
factured by  Dr.  Struve,  and  is  a  pleasant  beverage 
enough,  especially  the  morning  following  an  over- 
dose of  beer.  During  the  summer  season  it  is  sold 
at  the  Trink-Hallen,  which  are  scattered  throughout 
the  town,  and  for  a  mile  or  so  among  the  en- 
virons. They  are  neat  clapboarded  little  boxes, 
about  ten  feet  square  ;  all  made  on  the  same  pat- 
tern, with  an  open  counter  across  the  front,  on 
which  are  abundance  of  flowers  in  pots,  and  be- 
hind the  flowers  a  young  lady,  who  is  not  to  blame 
if  she  happen  to  be  less  fair  than  they.  Occasion- 
ally a  pretty  girl  will  accept  the  situation  ;  but 
the  service  is  not  so  popular  as  that  in  the  beer 
saloons,  though  the  one  is  as  sedentary  as  the 
other  is  active.  There  is  no  chance  for  sociability  ; 


SIDEWALKS   AND   ROADWAYS.  155 

the  hostess  has  no  chair  to  offer  her  guest  ;  and 
the  comparative  isolation  combines  with  the  lack 
of  exercise  to  produce  a  gloomy,  and  even  forbid- 
ding demeanor  strongly  in  contrast  with  the  smil- 
ing freedom  of  the  beer-maidens,  not  to  mention 
the  careless  abandon  of  the  nymphs  of  the  pump- 
liandle. 


156  SAXON   STUDIES. 


VI. 

ALONG    with   the   new   districts   which    have    of 
i 

late  years  been  added  to  the  city,  the  Dresden- 
ers  have  seen  fit  to  provide  themselves  with  a 
tram-way.  As  an  intelligent  inhabitant  informed 
me,  tram-ways  were  first  invented  about  two  years 
ago,  and  Dresden  was  one  of  the  first  cities  to 
make  practical  use  of  them.  It  commonly  happens 
that  we  are  most  proud  of  those  things  which  we 
have,  as  it  were,  discovered  ourselves  ;  and  accord- 
ingly this  honest  populace  regards  its  novel  experi- 
ment with  no  little  satisfaction,  not  unmixed  with 
wonder,  and  even  awe. 

"  I  was  not  so  fortunate  as  to  be  present  at  the  first 
launching  of  these  extraordinary  engines  ;  but  about  a  fort- 
night later  I  was  attracted  by  the  sight  of  a  large  and 
excited  crowd  assembled  on  the  corner  of  Prager  and  Wai- 
senhaus  Strasse.  At  that  time  there  were  rumors  of  strikes 
and  disaffection  among  certain  of  the  workmen  employed  by 
the  Government ;  and  I  at  once  conceived  that  a  disturbance 
had  actually  broken  out,  and  that  possibly  a  battle  was  even 
then  in  progress  between  the  infuriated  laborers  and  the 
police.  In  vain,  however,  —  having  arrived  breathless  on  the 
ground,  —  did  I  look  about  for  the  combatants.  Nobody 
seemed  to  be  fighting;  no  corpses  were  visible  ;  there  was 


SIDEWALKS   AND   ROADWAYS.  157 

not  so  much  as  a  drunken  man,  or  a  woman  in  a  fit.  Never- 
theless, the  crowd  was  manifestly  wrought  up  to  a  high 
pitch  of  excitement  about  something  ;  and  being  too  dull  to 
divine  the  cause,  and  too  proud  to  inquire  it,  I  resolved  pa- 
tiently to  await  the  issue.  By  and  by  I  noticed  that  the 
tram-way  rails  were  laid  round  this  corner  ;  and  then  me- 
thought  I  began  to  understand  a  little. 

"  The  crowd  was  massed  on  the  sidewalk,  and  was  kept 
there  by  two  policemen.  Some  distance  beyond  the  curb,  in 
the  hollow  of  the  arc  described  by  the  rails  in  turning  the 
corner,  stood  a  man  in  official  costume,  holding  a  whistle  in 
his  lips,  upon  which  he  played  an  irregular  and  very  shrill 
tune.  Occasionally  he  paused  a  moment  to  look  down  the 
street  ;  then,  turning  to  the  crowd,  gesticulated  with  a  red 
flag  in  an  agitated  manner,  and  blew  his  whistle  more  sharply 
than  before.  •  After  this  had  gone  on  for  some  time,  and 
every  heart  was  beating  high  with  suspense,  a  distant  rum- 
bling noise  was  heard,  like  thunder,  or  still  more  like  the 
rolling  of  the  wheels  of  a  tram-way  car.  Along  with  this 
sound,  another  of  a  different  description  was  audible  —  a 
sharp,  penetrating  sound,  closely  resembling  the  whistle  of  a 
tram-way  car-driver.  It  was  answered  by  the  man  on  the 
corner  with  a  wild,  ear-piercing  peal.  At  the  same  mo- 
ment a  hoarse  voice  shouted,  '  Es  kommt  !  es  komirit  !  ' 

"  Then  began  a  tumult  hard  to  describe.  The  cry  was 
taken  up  and  repeated.  The  crowd  surged  storm-like,  those 
in  front  striving  to  press  back  out  of  reach  of  danger,  while 
those  behind  seemed  madly  bent  on  getting  forward.  All  the 
time  the  rumbling  grew  louder  and  nearer,  the  whistling 
wilder  and  shriller,  the  gesticulations  of  the  official  on  the 
corner  with  the  red  flag  more  violent  and  unintelligible.  One 
poor  fellow,  the  warring  of  whose  emotions  had  been  too 
much  for  him,  entirely  forsook  his  senses  at  this  juncture  ; 
and  even  as  wild  animals,  when  driven  mad  by  terror  are 
said  to  rush  straight  into  the  jaws  of  danger,  did  he,  -eluding 


158  SAXON   STUDIES. 

the  grasp  of  the  now  exhausted  policeman,  dash  frantically 
across  the  track.  Women  shrieked,  strong  men  turned  pale, 
and  averted  their  eyes  with  a  shudder.  But  a  special  Provi- 
dence guards  the  insane.  The  terrible  tram-way  car  was  still 
full  thirty  paces  distant,  and  he  gained  the  opposite  side  of 
the  street  in  safety. 

"  The  next  few  moments  comprise  such  a  sickening  whirl 
of  sights,  sounds,  and  emotions,  as  only  a  pen  of  fire  could 
hope  to  portray.  Indeed,  I  have  no  very  distinct  recollection 
of  what  passed.  Something  I  seem  to  hear  of  a  clattering  of 
steel-shod  hoofs,  a  panting  of  straining  steeds,  a  grating  of 
harsh-turning  wheels.  Something  I  seem  to  see  of  a  face, 
grim-set,  with  a  whistle  in  its  mouth  ;  of  a  vast  moving 
bulk,  which  was  neither  house  nor  chariot,  but  a  mingling 
of  the  essential  parts  of  both,  sweeping  in  majestic  grandeur 
round  the  iron  curve.  Something  I  seem  to  feel  of  a  pride 
that  was  half  awe,  of  an  exultation  that  was  mostly  fear,  of 
a  wonder  that  was  all  bewilderment.  But  I  remember  no 
more.  When  I  came  to  myself,  I  found  that  the  tram-way 
car  had  halted  a  rod  or  two  beyond  the  turn,  and  was  dis- 
charging its  pale-faced  passengers  on  the  sidewalk.  The 
driver  was  chattering  with  one  of  the  policemen,  quietly,  as 
if  nothing  of  special  importance  had  happened.  The  official 
on  the  corner  had  stepped  into  the  neighboring  beer  saloon 
to  whet  his  whistle.  But  I  walked  homeward,  deep  in 
thought.  Come  what  might,  at  least  I  had  lived  to  see  a 
tram-way  car. 

"  The  conviction  forces  itself  upon  me  that  tram- way  cars 
are  alive  ;  that  in  addition  to  the  destructive  qualities  of  or- 
dinary steam-engines,  they  are  endowed  with  an  appalling 
intelligence  all  their  own,  which  drivers  and  guards  may  be 
able  in  some  degree  to  influence,  but  not  wholly  to  control. 
To  have  live  engines  rushing  through  our  very  streets  and 
over  our  shop  doorsteps  !  Is  it  not  tremendous,  and  really 
very  alarming  ?  But  is  it  not  also  grand  and  our  own  in- 


SIDEWALKS   AND   ROADWAYS.  159 

vention  ?  The  fact  that  for  so  many  years  we  have  been 
taught  to  regard  anything  in  the  shape  of  a  railway  as  the 
most  forbidden  of  forbidden  ground  may  explain  the  con- 
sternation wherewith  we  behold  the  dreaded  rails  winding 
their  iron  way  into  our  daily  walks.  Time  will,  perhaps, 
accustom  us  to  the  innovation,  though  hardly  during  the 
present  generation."  * 

I  may  be  permitted  to  add  that  the  cars  appear 
exceptionally  large  to  a  foreign  eye,  and  are  fur- 
ther peculiar  in  being  provided  with  a  second 
story,  attainable  by  means  of  a  couple  of  elaborate 
spiral  staircases,  one  at  each  end ;  a  sufficiently  lux- 
urious arrangement,  though  perhaps  a  good  steam- 
lift  would  be  an  improvement.  Inside  they  are 
very  comfortable  ;  and  no  one  is  allowed  to  stand 
up.  They  do  not  run  singly  and  at  short  inter- 
vals, but  in  trains  —  two  or  three  starting  at  the 
same  time  and  then  a  prolonged  cessation.  As  for 
the  men  with  red  flags  and  whistles,  who  are  sta- 
tioned at  short  intervals  all  along  the  line,  it  is  a 
question  whether  they  are  employed  to  summon 
the  populace  to  behold  the  greatness  and  majesty 
of  tram-way  cars,  or  to  warn  them  out  of  the  way 
lest  they  be  run  over.  Be  that  as  it  may,  there 
is  never  any  lack  of  spectators  ;  and  every  week 
or  so  we  hear  of  some  poor  creature's  having  been 
crushed  beneath  the  Juggernautic  wheels. 

1  Translated  from  the  Journal  of  a  Saxon  acquaintance. 


160  SAXON   STUDIES. 

Collisions  with  vehicles  are  frequent.  The  team- 
sters and  Droschkey  drivers  have  a  deadly  feud 
with  tram-way  cars ;  the  latter  because  the  cars  in- 
jure their  business ;  the  former  because  they  make 
them  "  turn  out."  The  police  always  support  the 
new-fangled  tram- ways,  and  the  feud  is  thereby  em- 
bittered. Most  opprobrious  epithets  are  exchanged 
and  occasionally  matters  proceed  farther  yet.  Once 
I  saw  a  lumbering  great  wagon  heavily  bumped  by 
a  car.  The  wagoner,  an  uncouth,  stolid-featured  fel- 
low, started  at  the  jar  as  though  a  new  and  very 
ugly  soul  had  suddenly  entered  into  him.  He  stood 
up,  shaking  his  fist  and  his  whip,  and  shrieking  out 
a  great  volume  of  abuse  and  defiance.  The  car 
passed  on,  leaving  him  to  rave  his  fill.  But  this 
did  not  satisfy  him.  He  presently  jumped  down 
from  his  box  and  gave  chase,  whip  in  hand,  his 
long  ragged  coat  flying  out  behind  him.  He  caught 
up  with  the  car,  and  lashed  it  with  his  whip  as 
though  it  had  been  a  .sentient  being.  The  guard 
was  standing  on  the  platform,  but  it  was  not  until 
he  had  said  something  to  the  revengeful  wagoner, 
that  the  latter's  whip  was  aimed  at  him.  The  fel- 
low probably  thought  that  since  the  guard  was . 
connected  with  the  car,  it  would  be  as  well  to 
give  him  a  share  o.f  the  car's  punishment.  He 
sprang  on  the  step,  and  so  plied  the  unfortunate 


SIDEWALKS   AND  ROADWAYS.  161 

official  with  his  knotted  lash,  as  soon  to  force  him 
to  retreat  inside.  The  victor  then  jumped  off, 
fetching  the  car  a  parting  thwack  as  he  did  so, 
and  ran  back  to  his  wagon,  laughing  hysterically, 
talking  incoherently  to  himself,  and  tossing  up  his 
arms  in  the  savage  glee  of  satiated  vengeance.  He 
ran  directly  into  the  arms  of  an  impassive,  inex- 
orable, helmeted  policeman  ;  and  there  I  left  him. 
11 


162  SAXON   STUDIES. 


VII. 

DRESDEN  abounds  in  squares  or  market-places,  of 
great  size  in  comparison  with  the  uniform  gloomy 
narrowness  of  the  streets.  It  seems  as  though  the 
streets,  ever  and  anon,  got  tired  of  being  narrow, 
and  suddenly  outstretched  their  mouths  into  a  por- 
tentous yawn.  If  only  a  compromise  could  be 
effected  between  the  expansion  of  the  market-places 
and  the  contraction  of  the  thoroughfares,  Dresden 
would  become  a  more  consistent  as  well  as  a  bet- 
ter ventilated  capital.  These  market-places  confine 
themselves  rigidly  to  business ;  they  are  market- 
places, not  parks  or  pleasure  gardens.  Every  square 
foot  of  them  is  solidly  paved ;  no  inclosed  grass- 
plots,  no  flower-beds,  bushes,  or  trees  are  allowed. 
If  you  want  such  things,  go  where  they  are  to  be 
had ;  but  when  you  enter  the  city  make  up  your 
mind  to  city  and  nothing  else. 

I  confess  a  decided  preference  for  this  arrange- 
ment over  that  which  prevails  in  American  and 
English  cities  —  the  forcing  scraps  of  country  into 
the  midst  of  every  chance  gap  between  the  houses 


SIDEWALKS   AND   ROADWAYS.  163 

Setting  aside  the  question  of  hygiene,  the  effect  of 
Such  violence  done  to  Nature  must  be  depressing 
to  every  one  capable  of  being  depressed.  Could 
there  be  imagined  two  more  irreconcilable  elements 
than  trees  and  brick  walls  ?  unless  it  were  flower- 
beds -and  street-pavements  ?  The  houses,  being  in 
the  majority,  put  out  the  trees  ;  the  trees,  so  far 
as  they  have  any  efficacy  at  all,  satirize  the  houses. 
If  we  are  in  the  garden,  glimpses  of  the  surround- 
ing buildings  distract  our  attention  from  the  foli- 
age ;  and  if  we  would  hear  birds  sing,  it  must  be 
to  an  accompaniment  of  carriage-wheels  and  street- 
cries.  Should  we  contrive  to  find  a  more  secluded 
nook,  where  we  might  pretend  for  a  moment  to 
forget  the  city,  we  are  in  constant  anxiety  lest 
some  untoward  chance  confront  us  with  our  hypoc- 
risy. Or  if,  on  the  other  hand,  we  stand  outside 
the  railings,  the  case  is  no  way  bettered ;  the  poor 
garden  seems  to  pine  like  a  bird  in  its  cage,  and, 
so  far  from  refreshing  us,  imposes  a  heavy  tax  on 
our  sympathies. 

Nature  must  not  be  surrounded.  Her  beauty  is 
not  compatible  with  shackled  limbs ;  she  must  be 
free  to  extend  to  the  horizon  and  salute  the  sky. 
Caged  Nature  will  not  sing,  and  loses  her  power 
to  bless.  She  may  hold  a  city  in  her  bosom,  like 
a  jewel,  and  both  she  and  the  jewel  will  look  the 


164  SAXON   STUDIES. 

prettier ;  but  either  her  majority  must  oe  without 
limit,  or  else  all  comparison  should  be  avoided. 
Never  bring  the  country  into  town  in  larger  quan- 
tity than  may  go  into  a  flower-pot.  If  harmony 
and  hygiene  must  come  into  collision  here,  I  am 
inclined  to  let  hygiene  go  to  the  wall,  as  Dresden 
does.  Let  us  abolish  cities,  if  we  can,  but  not  by 
throwing  green  grass  and  flowers  at  them. 

The  Dresden  market-place  looks  dreary  enough, 
say,  on  a  Sunday,  when  it  has  been  swept  se- 
verely clean,  and  the  level  expanse  of  stone  is 
unbroken  by  so  much  as  a  cigar-stump.  It  needs 
some  audacity  to  walk  across  it  —  the  expanse  is  so 
large,  and  the  conspicuousness  of  the  walker  so  com- 
plete. The  houses  on  opposite  sides  stare  hopelessly 
at  one  another,  like  hungry  guests  across  an  empty 
dining-table ;  and  it  seems  as  though  the  table 
never  could  be  laid.  But  see  what  a,  transforma- 
tion takes  place  on  Friday  morning  —  market-day 
throughout  Germany.  The  naked  plain,  which 
seemed  incurably  barren  yesterday,  has  wonderfully 
brought  forth  what  appears  to  be  a  great  crop  of 
colossal  mushrooms,  whereof  the  smallest  stand  six 
feet  high.  They  rise  from  amidst  fertile  under- 
growths  of  vegetables  and  produce  of  all  kinds ; 
and  beneath  them,  in  comfortable  chairs  made  out 
of  three  quarters  of  a  barrel,  stuffed  and  padded 


SIDEWALKS  AND  ROADWAYS.  165 

with  old  carpeting,  sit  robust,  elderly  ladies  in  flannel 
petticoats  and  wooden  shoes,  every  one  of  them 
knitting  a  blue  stocking,  and  no  less  indefatigably 
soliciting  passers-by  for  their  custom.  The  morn- 
ing sun  slants  across  the  scene,  gilding  the  um- 
brella-tops, and  gloating  over  the  heaps  of  fresh 
green  vegetables,  and  everywhere  making  merry 
with  the  warm,  omnipresent,  stirring,  shifting, 
murmuring  life  which  crowds  the  market-place 
from  brim  to  brim. 

There  is  nothing  else  in  Dresden  so  broadly 
picturesque  and  amusing,  so  rich  in  antique  and 
piquant  characteristics,  so  redolent  of  humor  and 
good-humor,  as  are  her  markets  and  out-door  fairs. 
The  open  sky  and  kindly  sunshine  give  an  air  of 
informality  to  the  ugly  business  of  buying  and 
selling,  which  renders  it  charming.  Bewitching 
are  the  primitive  stands  improvised  by  these  coun- 
try dames  for  the  display  of  their  wares.  They, 
too,  are  bewitching  in  their  way  —  a  brown  and 
wrinkled  tribe,  but  full  of  shrewdness,  and  of 
broad,  ready  wit,  that  is  often  apt  and  amusing. 
There  they  sit,  from  early  morning  till  late  after- 
noon, and  then  the  whole  establishment  is  packed 
into  the  dog-cart,  and  trundled  away. 

Their  costume  is  markedly  simple,  especially 
when  compared  with  the  fearfully  and  wonderfully 


166  SAXON   STUDIES. 

made  head-dresses  and  sleeves  which  are  the  fash- 
ion elsewhere  ,  on  the  Continent.  They  possess, 
moreover,  an  admirable  talent  for  making  them- 
selves comfortable  ;  never  dash  our  spirits  by  as- 
suming a  miserable  and  lugubrious  demeanor,  but, 
on  the  contrary,  wear  the  very  most  prosperous 
face  possible,  and  address  their  customers  not  with 
an  unintelligible  whine,  but  with  hearty  compli- 
ments and  clever  flatteries,  to  which  the  cheerful 
suggestion  that  they  can  furnish  the  very  commod- 
ity which  alone  is  needed  to  give  the  finishing 
touch  to  our  worldly  well-being,  appears  a  purely 
unpremeditated  addition.  I  owe  much  to  these 
excellent  personages,  and  rejoice  in  this  opportunity 
of  acknowledging  my  debt.  Had  my  acquaintance 
with  Dresden  never  extended  beyond  the  shadow 
of  their  big  umbrellas,  doubtless  I  had  brought 
away  more  genial  memories  of  it.  As  a  back- 
ground to  their  sturdy  figures,  the  ugly  houses, 
with  their  plaster  faces  and  hump-backed  roofs, 
acquire  an  undefinable  charm.  Whoever  delineates 
Saxon  life  and  manners,  whether  with  pen  or  pen- 
cil, should  not  fail  to  give  the  market-place  an 
honorable  position  in  his  picture.  The  sun  always 
shines  there. 

These  Friday  morning  market-women  must,  how- 
ever,  be    distinguished    from    what    may   be   called 


SIDEWALKS   AND   ROADWAYS.  167 

the  every -day  class,  who  have  permanent  stands 
at  this  and  that  street-corner,  rented  by  the  year ; 
who  sit,  not  in  three-quarter  barrels,  but  in  little 
•  wooden  sentry-boxes,  painted  green ;  who  never 
exert  themselves  to  solicit  custom,  but  let  their 
wares  speak  their  own  commendation ;  who  suffer 
the  buyer  to  depart  as  he  came,  instead  of  throw- 
ing after  him  the  affectionate  injunction,  "  Come 
again,  highly-honored  individual !  Forget  not  your 
most  devoted  servant !  "  Their  permanence,  in 
short,  seems  to  have  dried  up  in  them  the  springs 
of  that  naive  and  piquant  humor  which  their  Fri- 
day morning  sisters  bring  in  fresh  from  the  fields, 
along  with  the  turnips  and  cabbages.  They  be- 
come as  stiff  and  taciturn  as  the  little  wooden 
boxes  in  which  half  their  lives  are  passed ;  and, 
notwithstanding  many  luxurious  appliances  in  the 
way  of  wraps,  cushions,  and  footstools,  which  in 
the  course  of  time  they  contrive  to  get  together, 
they  never  look  half  so  comfortable  and  contented 
as  our  jolly  old  favorites  of  the  Alt-Markt. 

Certainly  this  market  is  worth  all  the  inclosed 
parks  and  pleasure  gardens  in  the  world.  It  is 
the  only  satisfactory  solution  of  the  problem  how 
to  bring  city  and  country  together.  Set.  them  on 
the  honest,  if  unaesthetic,  basis  of  buy  and  sell, 
and  the  meeting  will  redound  to  their  mutual 
credit  and  profit. 


168  SAXON   STUDIES. 


VIII. 

BUT  the  Alt-Markt,  in  company  with  its  smaller 
brethren,  is  indispensable  for  even  more  important 
purposes  than  the  accommodation  of  Friday  morn- 
ing market-women.  Thrice  or  four  times  in  a  year, 
but  notably  towards  Christmas,  does  Dresden  give 
symptoms  of  being  in  an  interesting  situation. 
After  a  few  days'  labor,  and  considerable  turmoil 
and  confusion,  she  is  happily  delivered  of  a  progeny 
of  ten  thousand  little  booths,  more  or  less,  Avhich 
straightway  proceed  to  arrange  themselves  as  a 
miniature  city  within  the  city,  and,  in  their  turn 
mysteriously  to  bring  forth  an  inexhaustible  store 
of  every  description  of  merchandise.  Meanwhile, 
a  myriad  army  of  buyers  and  merry-makers  has 
assembled  from  the  surrounding  country,  and  a 
grand  carnival  and  celebration  takes  place,  known 
as  the  Jahr-Markt,  or  Christmas  Fair.  It  con- 
tinues for  a  week  or  ten  days,  until,  Christmas 
being  fully  come,  the  residue  of  merchandise  is 
packed  away  in  boxes  and  baskets,  and  the  little 
booths,  being  thus  stripped  of  all  their  finery,  are 


SIDEWALKS  AND   ROADWAYS.  169 

themselves  rapt  away  to  some  limbo  or  other,  there 
to  await  the  time  when  they  shall  be  born  again. 

The  earliest  symptom  of  approaching  festivity, 
however,  is  the  sudden  up-growth,  in  every  quar- 
ter of  the  city,  of  extensive  forests  of  young  fir- 
trees.  They  are  of  all  heights,  from  twelve  inches 
to  twenty  feet,  and  there  are  so  many  of  them 
that  it  seems  as  if  every  man,  woman,  and  child  in 
Dresden  might  take  one  each,  and  yet  leave  half  as 
many  more  behind.  They  sprout  forth  from  every 
nook  and  corner,  and  are  not  at  all  embarrassed  by 
the  necessity  they  are  under  of  taking  up  their  stand 
on  cold  stone  pavements.  Indeed,  they  altogether 
dispense  with  roots,  substituting  for  them  the  more 
convenient  arrangement  of  two  billets  of  wood,  mor- 
tised together  at  right  angles,  with  a  hole  at  the 
intersection,  into  which  the  stem  of  the  tree  is 
fitted.  The  only  contingency  under  which  this 
principle  is  defective,  is  when  the  wind  blows.  A 
moderate  gust  will  overturn  an  entire  grove,  like 
a  row  of  cards ;  and  in  the  event  of  a  persistent 
breeze,  the  foresters  resign  themselves  with  the  best 
grace  they  may,  not  attempting  to  set  their  plantation 
on  end  again  until  the  elements  have  calmed  down. 
Their  appearance,  sitting  erect  amidst  so  much 
prostration,  is  not  a  little  forlorn ;  it  would  seem 
more  appropriate  were  they  to  utter  a  melancholy 


170  SAXON   STUDIES. 

wail,  and  fall  down  likewise.  These  trees,  it  need 
scarce  be  said,  are  the  property  of  the  good  Santa 
Glaus,  and  are  one  and  all  destined  to  produce  a 
crop  of  fruit  which  shall  gladden  the  hearts  of 
heaven  knows  how  many  children.  In  view  of  so 
glorious  a  consummation,  no  wonder  they  consent 
to  exchange  their  comfortable  roots  for  the  inse- 
cure foothold  of  a  wooden  cross ;  and,  after  the 
fruit-bearing  season  is  over,  to  live  on  memory  in 
the  attic  until  the  period  of  their  second  and  final 
coruscation  in  the  kitchen  fire.  They  make  friends 
with  all  ranks,  from  peer  to  peasant  ;  and  in  the 
case  of  any  other  people  than  this  would  probably 
create  some  temporary  bond  of  sympathy  between 
rich  and  poor.  But  each  individual  Saxon  walks 
off  with  his  own  tree,  and  enjoys  it  in  his  own 
way,  without  troubling  his  head  about  his  neigh- 
bor. As  the  trade  grows  brisk,  we  are  continually 
startled  at  the  singular  spectacle  of  animated  fir- 
trees  hastening  up  and  down  the  streets,  and  run- 
ning into  us  on  the  corners  ;  careering  to  and  fro 
through  the  crowd,  as  though  in  anxious  search 
after  their  owners.  It  seems  almost  a  pity  that  so 
many  thousands  of  beautiful  young  trees  should 
every  year  be  sacrificed,  even  to  so  beneficent  a 
deity  as  Santa  Clans.  But,  whencesoever  they 
come,  the  supply  never  appears  to  run  short ;  and, 


SIDEWALKS   AND  EOADWAYS.  171 

perhaps,  the  brief  splendor  of  these  Christmas  for- 
ests is  better  than  gloomy  centuries  upon  the  im- 
passive hills. 

Having  provided  ourselves  with  a  Christmas-tree, 
we  must  next  repair  to  the  booths  for  wherewithal 
to  dress  it.  Ever  since  I  began  to  take  an  inter- 
est in  story-books,  the  word  "  booth  "  has  had  an 
inexpressible  fascination  for  me.  The  spell  origi- 
nated, I  think,  in  a  picture  of  a  booth  on  a  cer- 
tain page  of  an  unforgetable  German  fairy  volume, 
called  "  The  Black  Aunt ;  "  which,  likewise,  con- 
tained the  tragic  history  of  Nutcracker  and  Sugar- 
dolly,  and  the  touching  romance  of  Johnnie  and 
Maggie.  Most  children,  I  trust,  have  known  the 
Blaclr  Aunt,  or  some  of  her  kindred ;  but  com- 
paratively few  can  have  been  so  fortunate  as  to 
stumble  upon  the  palpable  realization  of  her  won- 
drous tales  —  just  at  the  moment  too  when  they 
were  perhaps  ready  to  question  her  veracity.  No 
less  happy  -a  destiny,  however,  was  reserved  for 
me,  in  wandering  through  the  toy-district  of  the 
Christmas  Fair ;  and  the  sentiment  stirred  in  me 
by  what  I  saw  there  was  tender  to  the  verge  of 
emotion.  I  have  walked  those  fairy  streets  for 
hours,  and  not  one  of  the  tow-headed  little  rascals, 
who  were  forever  stumbling  betwixt  my  legs,  was 
more  captivated  or  credulous  than  I. 


172  SAXON   STUDIES. 

As  for  the  booths,  they  are  of  sufficiently  simple 
construction,  being  mere  sheds  of  plain  boards, 
which  much  rain  and  snow,  and  a  little  sunshine, 
have  tinted  a  rusty  black.  They  range  from  six 
to  ten  feet  in  height  and  breadth,  and  are  open  in 
front,  and  roughly  fitted  with  half  a  dozen  shelves. 
The  counter  is  generally  made  of  a  long  plank, 
supported  at  each  end  by  a  barrel,  and  the  only 
way  for  the  merchant  to  get  in  or  out  of  his  shop 
is  to  crawl  underneath  this  arrangement.  Every- 
thing about  the  establishment  is  temporary ;  we 
feel  that,  though  it  is  here  to-day,  this  very  night 
may  see  it  taken  to  pieces,  and  carted  off  into 
oblivion ;  and  this  transitoriness  is  in  powerful  con- 
trast with  the  brilliant  and  warm  intensity  of  its 
life  so  long  as  it  endures.  Certainly  it  endows  it 
with  a  charm  unknown  to  shops,  however  gorgeous, 
whose  existence  is  measured  by  years  rather  than 
hours.  Charming,  too,  is  the  set-off  given  by  these 
weather-beaten  boards  to  the  gaudy  colors  of  the 
freshly-painted  toys,  the  gilt  gingerbread,  and  the 
sugar-plums.  It  is  all  story-book ;  and,  as  we 
gaze,  we  half  listen  for  the  turning  of  the  leaf,  or 
the  unwelcome  injunction  to  go  to  bed,  and  hear  the 
rest  another  time. 

Most  of  the  booths  bear  a  black  placard,  where- 
on is  painted  in  white  letters  the  name  of  the 


SIDEWALKS    AND   ROADWAYS.  173 

proprietor,  together  with  his  or  her  condition  in 
life,  and  native  place.  "  Frau  Mellot,  Wittwe,  aus 
Tirol ;  "  so  we  stare  at  Frau  Mellot,  who  is  a 
comely  woman,  not  too  old,  a"nd  wonder  whether 
her  husband  met  his  death  hunting  chamois  ;  and 
whether  there  is  not  something  marked  in  the  re- 
gard of  yonder  stout,  curly-headed  Fritz  Wagner, 
vendor  of  earthenware  from  Bohemia,  who  keeps 
the  booth  on  the  other  side  of  the  way.  Frau 
Mellot  is  doing  an  excellent  business  in  cheese  and 
sausages.  Next  year,  perhaps,  the  two  establish- 
ments will  have  become  one  —  the  earthen  pots 
will  have  wedded  the  sausage  and  cheese.  For  it 
is  scarcely  possible  to  avoid  feeling  a  lively  personal 
interest  in  these  people ;  they  are  all  characters  in 
our  story-book,  and  their  welfare  is  essential  to 
the  happy  development  of  the  narrative.  "  Hier 
nur  giebt  es  billige  Waaren !  "  shouts  Fritz,  with 
a  sly  wink  at  the  widow ;  and  she  tosses  her  head, 
and  calls,  "  Ein  Groschen  das  Stuck,  hier  !  hier  ist 
jedes  Stuck  nur  ein  Groschen !  "  Then  she  catches 
my  eye,  and  at  once  attacks  my  sensibilities  thus : 
"  Buy  something  of  me,  then  —  you,  dear  sir  ! 
you,  who  appear  so  benevolent  and  so  wealthy !  " 
No,  no,  Frau  Mellot,  I  will  not  be  your  cat's-paw, 
to  give  honest  Fritz  the  heartache ;  nay,  is  he  not 
jealous  already  ?  methinks  there  is  something  sin- 


174  SAXON   STUDIES. 

ister  in  the  way  he  balances  that  earthen  jug, 
and  glances  at  my  head !  Farewell  for  the  present ; 
but  next  year,  if  all  goes  well,  I  will  buy  of  you  both 
a  round  of  cheese  and  a  stone  jar  to  keep  it  in. 


SIDEWALKS   AND   ROADWAYS.  175 


IX. 

THE  booths  occupy  not  only  the  squares,  but 
the  streets  and  alleys  likewise,  and  still  there 
never  seems  to  be  half  room  enough.  We  cannot 
hope  to  inspect  them  all,  and,  perhaps,  our  best 
plan  will  be  to  confine  our  observations  to  the 
Alt-Markt  collection,  which  in  itself  forms  a  large 
town,  and  may  be  looked  upon  as  Santa  Claus's 
head-quarters.  The  shops  are  arranged  with  ad- 
mirable regularity  in  avenues  and  cross-streets,  the 
widest  barely  seven  feet  in  breadth  ;  and,  generally 
speaking,  each  street  is  devoted  to  a  separate  kind 
of  goods,  so  that,  by  the  time  we  have  been 
through  them  all,  we  shall  have  beheld  as  large  a 
variety  of  cheap  and  reasonably  worthless  com- 
modities as  were  ever  brought  together  within 
similar  limits  since  time  began.  In  this  quarter, 
for  instance,  the  whole  world  seems  to  have  been 
turned  to  leather,  and  so  strong  is  the  perfume  of 
tanned  hides  that,  for  the  moment,  we  forget  that 
other  fundamental  odor  which  reigned  here  last 
week,  and  will  resume  its  ancient  sway  to-morrow 


176  SAXON   STUDIES. 

or  the  day  after.  Here  we  turn  the  corner,  and 
straightway  the  eye  is  attacked  by  an  overpower- 
ing onset  of  all  the  colors  of  the  rainbow,  besides 
a  great  many  which  the  most  charitable  rainbow 
would  indignantly  repudiate,  embodied  in  hundreds 
and  thousands,  of  rolls  of  stout,  coarse  flannels,  such 
as  the  peasant- women  make  up  into  petticoats  for 
holiday  wear.  This  district  is  very  popular  with 
the  fair  sex,  though  less"  so  than  the  region  of 
crude  ribbons  and  priceless  jewelry  farther  on. 
The  next  street  epitomizes  the  iron  age,  and  is 
resonant  with  pots  and  kettles,  flat-irons  and  pok- 
ers, rakes,  spades,  and  kitchen  cutlery  ;  but  I  think 
iron  should  be  excluded  from  fairs,  as  being  too 
permanent  and  uncompromising  an  element  where 
change  and  the  brilliance  of  a  moment  are  the 
chief  aim  and  attraction.  Pleasanter  and  more  in- 
teresting is.  the/  place  of  baskets  and  wicker-work, 
where  we  may  see  the  osiers  being  deftly  and 
swiftly  wrought  up  into  an  amazing  variety  of 
pretty  or  eccentric  forms.  Germany  is  notable 
for  basket-making  as  well  as  for  pottery  —  the  two 
most  primitive  and  not  least  graceful  industries 
known  to  man. 

Manifestly,  however,  we  are  not  equal  to  the 
task  of  perambulating  even  the  Alt-Markt.  We 
pause  on  the  verge  of  a  wilderness  of  sparkling 


SIDEWALKS   AND   ROADWAYS.  177 

glass-ware,  and  altogether  neglect  the  extensive 
assortment  of  dried  fish  and  groceries  which  mo- 
nopolize the  stalls  on  the  farther  side  of  the  square. 
Neither  can  we  hope  to  do  justice  to  the  number- 
less shows  of  fat  women  and  strong  men,  of  wild 
children  and  tame  mice,  of  conjurors  and  mounte- 
banks, which  swarm  here  no  less  than  at  other 
fairs.  The  truth  is,  I  am  anxious  to  spend  such 
time  as  remains  to  us  in  the  toy  department, 
which  occupies  the  centre  of  the  Christmas  town- 
ship, and  is  the  nucleus  of  gayety  into  the  bargain. 
Here,  indeed,  is  rich  bewilderment  piled  ten  deep ! 
Every  inch  of  space  is  used  and  used  again,  until 
we  are  ready  to  forget  that  such  a  thing  as  space 
exists.  The  vendors  are  up  to  their  neck  in  toys  ; 
toys  are  piled  on  the  counters,  hung  from  hooks 
and  along  lines,  crammed  into  baskets.  Assuredly 
there  are  more  toys  in  the  world  than  anything 
else — toys  are  the  sole  reality  and  business  of 
life,  and  all  else  is  mere  pastime  and  make-believe. 
They  are  all  immortal,  too ;  for  here  are  the  jump- 
ing monkeys  and  dancing  harlequins,  the  red-roofed 
villages  and  the  emerald-green  poplar-trees,  the 
Noah's  Arks,  the  drums,  and  the  trumpets  —  all 
the  things  of  our  childhood,  which  we  have  loved 
and  smashed  to  pieces  —  all  as  active,  as  life-like, 
12 


178  SAXON   STUDIES. 

as  brilliant,  as  new  and  unstained  as  when  we 
saw  them  first  so  many  years  ago.  Here  is  the 
gallant  Nutcracker,  with  his  stiff  pigtail,  powerful 
jaw,  and  staring  blue  eyes  ;  beside  him  the  sweet 
and  gentle  Sugar-dolly,  to  whose  tragic  fate  I  have 
never  been  able  to  resign  myself.  Yonder  is  the 
famous  cock  who  flew  to  the  top  of  the  barn  and 
gave  up  crowing,  but  who  turns  constantly  this 
way  and  that  on  one  leg,  to  see  whence  the  wind 
blows.  Near  him  the  squirrel,  joint  hero  with 
Nutcracker  in  that  never-to-be-forgotten  duel  of 
theirs.  And  here  are  dear  Johnnie  and  Maggie, 
grown  not  a  day  older ;  or,  if  they  be  the  de- 
scendants of  the  historic  pair,  reproducing  the 
characteristics  of  their  progenitors  with  a  complete- 
ness which  would  make  Mr.  Galton  the  happiest 
man  in  England.  Nor  will  we  forget  Hans  Chris- 
tian Andersen's  tin  soldier,  with  his  shouldered 
musket,  his  single  leg,  and  his  rigid  observance 
of  discipline.  It  appears  he  was  not  melted  up 
after  all ;  and  I  see  the  little  dancer  whom  he 
loved  pirouetting  not  far  away.  She  is  a  giddy 
little  lady,  and  military  discipline  is  a  serious 
matter,  especially  of  late  years;  but  I  have  faith 
that  they  will  yet  live  long  enough  to  meet  and 
make  one  another  happy.  We  human  beings  are 
mere  toys,  who  are  born,  and  die,  and  never  come 


SIDEWALKS   AND   ROADWAYS.  179 

again  ;  but  these  beings  who  are  not  human,  and 
whom  we  rather  look  down  upon,  perhaps,  are  for- 
ever beginning  their  existence,  and  will  be  the 
delight  of  children  of  future  eras  when  those  of 
ours  shall  be  streaks  of  sunset  cloud  ! . 

Verily,  this  is  an  enchanted  land,  unchanging 
amidst  the  world's  change,  undisturbed  amidst  our 
wars  and  factions.  Santa  Glaus  has  learned  the 
secret  of  wise  government.  Here  dwells  no  com- 
mon sense  nor  logic  —  no  atomic  theory  nor  doc- 
trine of  evolution.  The  inhabitants  of  this  king- 
dom know  neither  Hegel  nor  Kant,  yet  theirs  is 
the  true  philosophy  of  the  unconditioned.  The 
ship  of  humanity  pitches  in  a  heavy  sea,  but  these 
little  people  are  the  ballast  that  keep  her  from 
rolling  over.  Germany  has  ever  been  the  home  of 
toys  —  let  her  beware  lest  her  ambition  move  them 
to  emigration  !  She  may  conquer  Europe  and  com- 
mand the  seas,  but  all  shall  not  avail  if  she  let 
this  little  Noah's  Ark  escape  her  ports.  In  a  few 
years,  more  or  less,  her  reign  must  come  to  an  end  ; 
and  Bismarck,  for  all  his  bluster,  is  not  immortal ; 
but  if  he  lives  long  enough  to .  drive  Nutcracker 
and  Sugar-dolly  out  of  Germany — and  it  seems 
probable  he  may  —  not  the  conquest  of  many 
Europes  would  compensate  the  loss ;  for  when 
Nutcracker  and  Sugar-dolly  depart,  they  will  take 


180  SAXON  STUDIES. 

the  child-heart  with  them ;  men  will  be  born  old 
in  the  next  generation :  and  we  need  not  pursue 
our  speculations  farther,  because  those  who  have 
never  been  children  will  not  be  apt  to  fall  into  the 
absurdity  of  begetting  any. 

This  is  no  fanciful  warning  ;  the  seeds  of  the 
catastrophe  are  already  sown.  At  the  Christmas 
fair  last  year  a  hateful  suspicion  possessed  me  that 
the  children  were  not  quite  what  they  used  to  be  ; 
they  clustered  round  the  booths,  indeed,  and  stared 
at  the  toys,  but  some  of  them  seemed  half-ashamed 
of  their  interest,  while  others  were  positively  and 
brutally  indifferent.  I  saw  a  great  peasant,  six 
feet  high,  stand  for  ten  minutes  with  his  mouth 
hanging  open  from  pure  delight  and  astonishment 
at  sight  of  a  jumping-jack,  which  a  miserable  lit- 
tle rascal,  not  seven  years  old,  passed  by  with 
hardly  so  much  as  a  glance,  -r- 1  suppose  to  spend 
his  money  on  a  topographical  map  of  France.  As 
for  the  countryman,  I  believe  to  this  day  (though  I 
did  not  see  him  do  it)  that  he  ended  by  buying  the 
jumping-jack.  Unfortunately,  however,  the  small 
boys  will  outlive  the  tall  countrymen,  and  who  will 
buy  the  jumping-jacks  then  ? 


SIDEWALKS   AND   ROADWAYS.  181 


X. 

THE  vein  we  have  fallen  into  is  too  sad  a  one 
for  this  blessed  season,  and  we  must  try  to  think  of 
.something  else.  The  proprietors  of  the  booths  are 
always  an  interesting  study  ;  and  seem  to  be  under 
no  restrictions  as  regards  either  sex  or  age.  I 
have  seen  a  candy-booth  in  charge  of  a  boy  so 
small  that  he  was  obliged  to  mount  on  a  chair  to 
bring  his  head  above  the  counter ;  and  he  could 
walk  put  underneath  it  without  stooping.  How 
he  could  bring  himself  to  sell  what  should  have 
been  to  his  mind  priceless  treasures,  is  beyond  my 
comprehension  ;  not  only  did  he  accomplish  this 
feat,  however,  but  he  showed  an  aptitude  for  busi- 
ness and  a  shrewdness  which  might  have  put 
many  an  older  practitioner  to  the  blush. 

There  is  a  goodly  number  of  grown-up  men 
among  the  merchants,  and  the  most  of  them  are 
unusually  fat.  I  suppose  a  dozen  or  twenty  years 
of  sitting  behind  a  counter  in  the  open  air,  with 
no  further  occupation  save  eating,  smoking,  and 


182  SAXON    STUDIES. 

drinking  beer,  would  go  far  towards  fattening  a 
skeleton.  One  fellow  I  remember  (at  least,  I  re- 
member his  head  and  shoulders;  the  rest  of  him  — 
if  there  were  any  rest  —  was  so  completely  hidden 
behind  the  heaps  of  salt  herrings  and  sausages 
which  formed  his  stock  in  trade  as  to  suggest  the 
idea  that  he  had  resolved  himself  into  them  so 
far,  and  would  finish  the  process  by  and  by) 
whose  physiognomy  was  overlaid  with  an  amount 
of  padded  blubber  such  as  would  have  made  a 
prime  pair  of  Bath  chaps  look  famished  in  com- 
parison. It  was  my  fancy  that  he  was  a  good 
deal  too  fat  to  talk,  and,  indeed,  I  never  saw  him 
so  much  as  open  his  mouth.  His  eyes  were  very 
fishy,  and  there  was  something  of  the  sausage  in 
the  modelling  of  his  nose,  and  in  his  mottled  com- 
plexion. 

The  majority  of  the  shop-keepers,  however,  seem 
to  be  women  of  between  twenty  and  forty  years 
old,  all  of  them  knitting  on  the  interminable  Ger- 
man stocking.  The  spirits  of  the  women  are  both 
depressed  and  elevated  more  easily  than  the  men's; 
at  all  events,  the  latter  assume  an  air  of  phleg- 
matic indifference  under  misfortune  which  -few 
women  are  able  to  imitate.  In  prosperity  all  grin 
alike,  till  one  would  think  fate  could  never  again 


SIDEWALKS   AND   ROADWAYS.  183 

have  the  heart  to  frown  upon  them.  Nor  do  I 
suppose  she  ever  does  very  seriously  ;  a  rainy  day 
is  the  heaviest  calamity  which  she  is  likely  to  in- 
flict upon  them.  To  be  sure,  few  things  are  more 
uncomfortable  and  depressing  than  a  rainy  day  at 
a  fair.  The  outlying  wares  must  be  covered  over 
with  ugly  black  oil-cloth,  or  gathered  in  out  of 
sight ;  the  water  trickles  through  the  cracks  of  the 
boards,  and  drips  exasperatingly  down  upon  the 
empty  counter ;  the  crowd  of  customers  sensibly 
diminishes,  and  business  prospects  are  gloomy. 
What  if  the  weather  continue  in  this  mood  till 
Christmas,  leaving  our  boxes  full  and  our  pockets 
empty  ?  But  when  the  sun  breaks  forth  once 
more,  and  a  brisk  frost  makes  all  bright  and  dry 
again,  what  a  change  in  these  good  people's  vis- 
ages !  They  have  shortened  an  inch  or  two,  and 
now  the  booths  put  forth  their  leaves  again,  like 
flowers  in  the  morning. 

After  we  have  become  familiar  with  the  day- 
light aspect  of  the  fair,  it  is  well  to  visit  it  after 
dark,  when  the  flaring  lamps  fantastically  illumi- 
nate the  long  array  of  sparkling  and  glowing  mer- 
chandise, and  reveal  the  multitudinous  faces  of  the 
shifting  crowd  ;  and  all  is  projected  against  the 
sable  background  of  night  with  an  effect  which  is 


184  SAXON   STUDIES. 

magical  indeed,  and  renders  the  scene  at  once  more 
real  and  more  visionary  than  ever.  What  London 
or  Paris  can  boast  such  streets  as  these,  where  the 
whole  house-line  is  one  endless  shop- window?  where 
there  is  no  inch  of  bare  wall  or  vacant  pavement  ? 
Where  else  is  such  a  solid  wedge  of  life  as  here 
—  such  bustle  and  babble  —  crowding  and  brill- 
iancy ?  We  are  under  unceasing  pressure  of  shoul- 
ders, backs,  and  fronts  on  every  side.  There  are 
fifty  human  faces  within  a  radius  of  five  feet  from 
our  own ;  and  we  seem  to  tread  upon  a  dense 
undergrowth  of  children.  A  crowd  such  as  this 
whereof  each  individual  is  intent  upon  his  own  pri- 
vate and  particular  affairs,  and  is  not  observant  of 
any  one  else,  is  as  good  as  solitude  or  better.  It 
is  only  when  the  mob  is  more  or  less  inspired  by 
some  common  sentiment  or  purpose,  that  its  un- 
pleasant qualities  become  manifest.  I  mean,  of 
course,  the  morally  unpleasant  ones ;  the  physical 
drawbacks  are  not  so  lightly  got  rid  of.  This 
Saxon  crowd  has  a  larger  proportion  of  elderly 
persons  in  it,  and  of  those  who  come  on  business 
rather  than  pleasure,  than  would  be  the  case  with 
a  similar  gathering  in  America  or  England.  But 
we  meet  specimens  of  every  class  and  not  a  few 
nationalities  of  men.  Occasionally  an  American  or 


SIDEWALKS   AND   ROADWAYS.  185 

^ 

an    Englishman    turns  up,  and    more   rarely  with  a 
lady  on  his  arm. 

I  cherish  agreeable  recollections  of  a  certain  el- 
derly Englishman  whom  I  used  to  meet  every  day 
at  the  Christmas  Fair,  some  six  years  ago.  He  was 
always  hand  in  hand1  with  a.  beautiful  little  girl 
about  ten  years  old,  whose  fair  skin  and  long  yel- 
low hair  were  well  contrasted  with  the  ruddy  geni- 
ality which  glowed  in  his  complexion  and  twinkled 
in  his  jolly  eyes,  and  with  the  crisp  whiteness  of 
his  beard  and  moustache.  His  attire  was  invaria- 
bly faultless,  and  he  was  evidently  not  unconscious 
of  the  nicety  of  its  adaptation  to  his  rather  slender 
figure.  A  more  prosperous-looking  old  gentleman 
I  have  seldom  seen ;  and  between  him  and  his  fair- 
haired  grandchild  there  was  palpable  evidence  of 
a  very  tender  companionship  and  affection.  There 
were  no  two  people  at  the  fair  who  entered  with 
more  zest  into  the  spirit  of  the  fun.  The  sympa- 
thy of  each  enhanced  the  excitement  and  enjoyment 
of  the  other.  Early  in  the  week  they  selected  one 
of  the  biggest  and  straightest  trees  in  the  whole 
Christmas  forest,  and  thenceforward  until  Christ- 
mas Eve  they  bought  such  a  quantity  of  toys,  bon- 
bons, and  knick-knacks  as  it  makes  one's  heart 
warm  to  think  of.  This  pair  of  youthful  per- 


186  SAXON   STUDIES. 

sonages  contributed  more  than  all  the  rest  of  the 
visitors  to  making  the  Christmas  element  of  the 
fair  an  abiding  reality  for  me.  Looking  at  them,  it 
became  impossible  to  doubt  that  Christmas  was  some- 
thing more  than  a  word.  Their  preoccupation  and 
unconsciousness  of  observation  were  priceless  evi- 
dence, and  argument  incontrovertible. 

Not  that  other  people  fail  to  have  a  very  good 
time.  Towards  evening,  the  soldiers  from  the 
neighboring  barracks  get  their  furlough,  and  come 
down  in  their  dark,  scar  let- trimmed  uniforms,  with 
visored  caps  and  sparkling  sword-hilts.  Here,  as 
elsewhere  throughout  the  world,  their  sway  is  su- 
preme over  the  servant  girl's  heart.  I  never  ob- 
served these  humble  lovers  say  much  to  each 
other ;  but  they  stand  holding  each  other's  hands, 
and  evidently  full  of  an  exalted  amiability  which 
is  preferable  to  most  conversation.  The  soldiers 
have  one  marked  advantage  over  the  rest  of  the 
Saxon  nation  —  they  are  neatly  and  tidily  dressed. 
The  costume  of  the  average  non-military  man  is 
sadly  demoralized.  During  the  winter  he  unfail- 
ingly makes  his  appearance  in  a  long  voluminous 
garment  having  sleeves  like  a  coat,  but  otherwise 
anomalous.  It  is  lined  throughout  with  fur,  and 
has  a  fur  collar  and  cuffs,  heavy  enough  to  make 


SIDEWALKS   AND   ROADWAYS.  187 

a  polar  bear  perspire.  Yet  these  Saxons,  whose 
physical  warmth  appears  to  be  as  defective  as  that 
of  their  affections,  crawl  about  in  their  great  fur 
sacks  from  'November  to  May  ;  as  though  with  in- 
tent to  retain  the  atmosphere  of  last  summer  until 
the  summer  to  come.  Again,  I  find  it  character- 
istic of  them  that  they  should  rather  be  at  pains 
to  prevent  cold  from  getting  in  than  to  kindle  an 
inward  warmth  whereby  to  repel  it.  That  genial 
Englishman  we  spoke  of  just  noV,  never  wore  any- 
thing heavier  than  an  immaculate  velvet  walking- 
coat,  buttoned  over  his  chest,  and  slanting  down 
to  the  pearl-gray  perfection  of  his  pants.  Even 
his  yellow  kid  gloves  were  half  the  time  carried 
in  one  hand.  But  the  kindly  ardor  of  his  heart 
—  and  likewise,  doubtless,  of  the  fine  old  crusted 
port  which  he  quaffed  every  day  at  dinner  —  not 
only  kept  him  warm,  but  made  him  the  cause  of 
warmth  in  others 

We  have  lingered  so  long  at  this  Christmas  Fair, 
that  all  opportunity  for  the  sober  prosecution  of 
our  original  programme  is  lost,  and,  for  my  own 
part,  I  am  glad  of  it.  At  best,  we  can  only  say 
of  Dresden  streets  as  of  the  woes  of  Troy,  "forsi- 
tan  et  hcec  olim  meminisse  juvabit"  If  .we  praise 


188  SAXON   STUDIES. 

them,  it  must  be  negatively  —  thus  :  The  new  dis- 
tricts are  even  more  uninteresting  than  the  old, 
and  the  old  are,  if  possible,  more  abominably  un- 
savory than  the  new. —  Such  language,  whether  flat- 
tering or  not,  is  hardly  in  harmony  with  the  spirit 
of  the  season,  and  we  are  glad  to  be  spared  the 
use  of  it. 

I  feel  tempted,  on  the  other  hand,  to  pronounce 
at  this  point  a  eulogistic  peroration  on  the  Saxon 
Christmas ;  pointing  out  that  insomuch  as  they  (in 
common  with  other  Teutons)  lay  more  stress  on 
Christmas  celebrations  than  any  other  people,  it 
logically  follows  that  they  are  inspired  with  a 
larger  portion  of  the  Christian  spirit,  and  of  that 
simple  charity  which  gives  for  pure  love  of  giving. 
If  I  do  not  say  this,  it  is  because  the  Saxons 
would  themselves  be  the  last  to  comprehend  the 
meaning  of  such  an  imputation,  and  the  first  to 
ridicule  it  when  they  did.  That  part  of  charity 
which  consists  in  making  presents  is,  with  them, 
but  another  name  for  barter.  Rochefoucauld  has 
observed  (and  he  must  have  had  Saxony  in  his  eye 
at  the  time)  that  gratitude  is  a  keen  sense  of  fa- 
vors to  come ;  and  he  might  have  added  —  still 
making  the  same  tacit  application  —  that  generosity 
is  a  shrewd  calculation  of  probable  returns.  A 


SIDEWALKS   AND   ROADWAYS.  189 

Saxon  once  told  me  that  he  spent  more  money  at 
Christinas  than  during  all  the  rest  of  the  year ; 
but  added  with  touching  naivetS  that  he  more  than 
got  it  back  again. 

"  Say  I  have  twenty  friends ;  in  buying  each  of 
them  a  present  I  expend  my  two  hundred  thaler, 
reserved  for  the  purpose.  Good.  Each,  now,  gives 
me  a  present  in  return ;  I  appraise  their  value, 
and  nine  times  from  ten  I  find  myself  ten  thaler 
to"  the  good.  It  is  a  science,  sir  !  " 

This  seems  plausible,  though  it  would  seem  as  if 
some  one  among  the  twenty  must  be  a  sufferer ;  but 
all  life  is  a  lottery.  And  —  putting  the  question  of 
pecuniary  profit  in  the  background  for  a  moment  — 
shall  we  count  as  nothing  all  that  sweet  incense  of 
flattery  and  compliment  which  the  occasion  war- 
rants us  in  burning  beneath  one  another's  noses  ? 
I  trow  not,  for  only  under  the  circumstances  we 
have  supposed  do  such  compliments  acquire  their 
full  flavor.  It  is  well  enough  for  my  friend  to  call 
me  generous,  but  half  my  enjoyment  of  his  recog- 
nition is  destroyed  if  I  am  out  of  pocket  by  my 
generosity.  What  the  world  needs  is  —  and  it  may 
thank  the  Saxon  nation  for  the  hint  —  a  new  set 
of  virtues,  guaranteed  to  dq  all  the  work  of  ordi- 
nary virtues,  and  to  receive  all  their  meed  of 


190  SAXON   STUDIES. 

praise ;  but  insured  against  being  of  the  slightest 
risk  or  inconvenience  to  their  owner.  To  sit  still, 
and  declare  that  virtue  is  its  own  reward,  is  folly, 
and  weak  folly  ;  we  must  set  to  work,  and  make 
it  its  own  reward  —  and  a  good,  solid,  marketable 
reward,  too ! 


STONE    AND    PLASTER. 


CHAPTER  IV. 

STONE  AND  PLASTER. 
I. 

THERE  is  a  kind  of  ugliness  which  is  practically 
invisible.  It  is  not  ugliness  of  the  grotesque,  fas- 
cinating, or  forcible  order ;  its  characteristics  are 
negative  and  probably  indescribable.  It  is  always 
tinctured  strongly  with  conventionality,  and  has  a 
mildly  depressing  effect  rather  than  an  actively 
exasperating  one :  it  partakes  of  the  nature  of  an 
incubus  more  than  of  an  irritant.  It  is  an  ugli- 
ness, in  short,  which,  instead  of  compelling  our 
eyes  at  the  same  time  that  it  revolts  them,  simply 
causes  us  not  to  see  it.  There  are  vast  numbers 
of  persons  in  the  world,  —  good,  plain  persons, 
with  no  piquancy  or  individuality  of  aspect,  —  with 
whom  we  may  converse  for  hours  or  years,  looking 
straight  at  them  all  the  time,  yet  never  actually 
seeing  them.  Their  image  is  formed  on  the  phys- 
ical retina,  but  the  mind's  eye  refuses  to  take 
note  of  them  ;  and  the  consequence  is  an  undefined 

13 


194  SAXON   STUDIES. 

feeling  of  dejection,  expressing  itself,  perhaps,  in  a 
sigh  or  even  an  irrepressible  yawn. 

I  think  the  sombre  humor  which  is  apt  to  set- 
tle upon  us  after  a  little  acquaintance  with  Dres- 
den may  be  traceable  to  the  invisible  ugliness,  I 
will  not  say  of  its  people,  but  of  its  houses.  They 
curiously  elude  our  observation,  even  when  we 
strive  to  fix  our  regards  upon  them.  We  walk 
street  after  street,  with  all  our  eyes  about  us  (so 
we  fancy),  and  yet  on  reaching  home  we  cannot 
call  up  the  picture  of  any  one  among  the  hundreds 
of  buildings  "by  which  we  have  passed.  They  are 
featureless,  bare,  and  neutral-tinted,  and  present 
no  handle  for  memory  to  catch  them  by.  They 
do  not  make  our  nerves  prick  with  anguish  and 
our  brows  flush,  as  do  the  palatial  residences  in 
New  York  and  elsewhere  ;  a  little  stimulus  of  that 
sort  once  in  a  while  would  be  healthful.  They 
deaden  us  by  communication  of  their  own  dead- 
ness,  and  it  is  a  mystery  how  living  men  built 
them  or  can  live  in  them. 

The  best  way  to  get  at  them  is  to  put  them 
side  by  side  with  houses  of  our  own,  and  note 
the  differences.  These  differences  all  begin  from 
the  fundamental  difference  between  the  Saxon  and 
the  Anglo-Saxon  modes  of  living.  They  live  in 
layers,  we  in  rows ;  and  when  we  have  analyzed 


STONE   AND   PLASTER.  195 

all  the  issues  of  this  variance,  we  shall  have  done 
much  towards  accounting  for  things  of  far  greater 
importance.  In  some  respects  the  Saxons  have  the 
advantage  of  us.  Our  city  houses  are  no  better 
than  an  array  of  pigeon-holes  ranged  interminably 
side  by  side ;  the  close  assemblage  of  pompous 
doorways,  each  with  its  little  flight  of  steps,  its 
porch,  and  its  twelve  feet  of  area  railings,  fatigues 
the  eye.  There  is  a  constant  repetition,  but  no 
broad  uniformity.  Moreover,  the  fact  that  the 
houses  are  clothed  only  in  front,  and  are  stark 
naked  behind  and  at  the  sides,  keeps  us  in  a  state 

of  constant  nervous  apprehension.     We  do  our  best 

* 

to  see  only  the  brown  stone  pinafores,  and  to  ig- 
nore the  bare  red  brick;  but  the  effort  is  no  less 
futile  than  it  is  wearisome.  The  bareness  haunts 
us,  until  the  very  pinafores  seem  transparent. 

Undoubtedly  they  manage  this  matter  much  bet- 
ter in  Dresden.  They  are  as  niggard  of  their 
doors  as  though  they  were  made  of  gold.  One 
door  to  a  frontage  of  an  hundred  windows ;  and 
instead  of  a  joining  together  of  twenty  or  more 
short  sections  of  imitation  stone  cornice  of  various 
designs,  here  we  have  a  single  great  bulging,  ram- 
bling, red-tiled  roof,  covering  the  whole  building ; 
with  rank  upon  rank  of  dormer-windows  and  fan- 
tastic chimneys  figuring  against  the  sky.  What- 


196  SAXON   STUDIES. 

ever  its  failings,  at  all  events,  the  home  is  cohe- 
rent and  conceivable.  It  has  a  back,  of  course, 
but  an  honest  back,  such  as  we  are  not  ashamed 
to  look  at.  Three  or  four  of  these  caravansaries 
form  a  block ;  and  there  is  an  absence  of  fussy 
detail  about  them  at  which  the  harassed  New 
Yorker  may  well  rejoice.  The  economy  in  doors 
extends  itself  to  door  numbers.  One  would  sup- 
pose that,  let  them  swell  their  biggest,  these  would 
remain  small  enough  :  but  they  are  rigorously  deci- 
mated by  a  free  application  of  the  alphabet.  If 
the  first  floor  in  the  block  is  No.  7,  the  next  is 
not  No.  8,  but  No.  TA,  and  the  third  No.  TB,  and 
so  on  up  to  G.  High  numbers  are  considered  vul- 
gar, but  letters  may  be  supposed  to  denote  archi- 
tectural blue  blood. 

The  doorways  are  flush  with  the  sidewalk ;  if 
there  are  steps,  they  are  within  the  house-line ; 
and  the  houses  never  set  back  behind  a  railing  as 
with  us.  They  seem  to  have  grown  since  they 
were  first  put  down,  and  to  have  filled  out  all 
spare  room.  The  larger  houses  are  built  round 
three  sides  of  a  court,  with  which  the  front  door 
communicates.  But  houses  in  Dresden  are  under 
no  restrictions  as  regards  ground-plan.  Any  geo- 
metrical figure  is  good  enough  for  them  ;  and  the 
Royal  Palace,  already  referred  to,  affords  them  an 


STONE  AND   PLASTER.  197 

example  of  license  in  this  direction  which  it  would 
be  hard  to  outdo.  The  crookedness  of  the  streets 
abets  the  eccentricity  ;  and  yet  the  most  extrava- 
gant sprawler  of  them  all  seems  more  human  than 
our  endless  repetition  of  pigeon-holes. 

The  houses  are  built  of  coarse  sandstone,  quar- 
ried from  the  cliffs  of  Saxon  Switzerland,  and 
brought  thence  on  canal-boats.  The  interior  is 
patched  here  and  there  with  brick,  while  to  the 
outside  is  applied  a  thick  layer  of  gray  or  yellow 
plaster,  whose  dead  surface  is  sometimes  relieved  by 
arabesques  and  friezes  in  low  relief,  or  perhaps  a 
statuette  or  two  in  a  shallow  niche.  This  fa$ade 
is  from  time  to  time  oversmeared  with  a  staring 
coat  of  paint,  causing  it  to  look  unnaturally  and 
even  violently  clean  for  a  month  or  so,  but  not 
improving  it  from  an  aesthetic  point  of  view.  In 
the  more  modern  villas,  however,  which  line  the 
approach  to  the  Royal  Park,  the  plaster  is  gener- 
ally replaced  by  a  fine  kind  of  stone,  dark  cream- 
color,  and  better  as  a  building  material  than  our 
American  yellow  or  brown  stone.  These  villas  are 
four-square,  detached,  two-storied  structures,  each 
in  the  midst  of  its  garden,  and  surrounded  by  an 
irreproachable  iron  railing.  The  roofs  are  either 
French  or  hip,  slated  and  regular;  the  carriage- 
drive  is  smoothly  paved  with  a  mosaic  of  black 


198  SAXON   STUDIES. 

and  white ;  there  is  a  fountain  on  the  lawn ;  a 
handsome  porch,  and  a  balcony  full  of  flowers. 
They  more  resemble  the  wooden  country-seats  on 
the  outskirts  of  American  cities  than  anything  in 
England ;  there  is  none  of  the  English  passion  for 
seclusion  and  reserve ;  no  impenetrable  hedges,  no 
ivy  screens,  nor  canopy  of  foliage.  Everything  is 
bare,  open,  and  visible,  and  seems  to  invite  inspec- 
tion, like  a  handsome,  immodest  woman.  We  can 
even  look  through  the  plate-glass  windows  and  see 
the  painted  ceilings  and  satinwood,  doors. 

But  it  is  to  the  city  houses  that  we  must  look 
for  traits  essentially  Saxon.  Balconies  they  gener- 
ally have,  fitted  to  the  drawing-room  windows  of 
the  successive  etages,  and  supported  on  stone  can- 
tale  vers.  Not  always  trust  worthily  supported,  how- 
ever ;  for  moisture  rots  the  stone,  and  the  balconies 
occasionally  come  down,  to  the  destruction  of  what- 
ever is  on  them  or  beneath  them.  Meanwhile 
they  are  a  pleasant  refuge  in  summer ;  we  sit 
chatting,  smoking,  and  sipping  beer  among  the 
flower-pots  as  the  sun  goes  down,  and  long  after 
the  stars  are  out.  They  may  even  be  used  as 
supper  rooms  when  the  day  has  been  very  hot, 
and  the  company  is  not  too  numerous.  If  we  have 
lived  long  in  Dresden,  it  will  not  discompose  us 
that  every  passer-by  in  the  street  may  see  how 
our  table  is  furnished. 


STONE   AND   PLASTER.  199 


II. 

TWENTY  families  sometimes  live  under  one  roof; 
and  the  same  front  door  serves  for  all.  Through 
it  must  pass  alike  the  Prince  on  the  Bel-etage,  the 
cobbler  in  the  basement,  and  the  seamstress  who 
lives  in  the  attic.  This  is  a  state  of  things  which 
deserves  consideration.  A  house-door,  which  is  com- 
mon property,  which  stands  agape  for  any  chance 
wayfarer  to  peer  through  —  nay,  whose  threshold 
is  no  more  sacred  than  the  public  curbstone  !  we 
are  democratic  in  America,  but  I  think  the  Saxons 
are  in  advance  of  us  here.  So  far  as  I  have  ob- 
served, New  Yorkers  and  Bostonians  are  as  care- 
ful of  their  doors,  and  as  chary  of  them,  as  is  a 
pretty  young  woman  of  her  teeth  and  lips.  I 
would  as  lief  share  my  parlor  with  a  stranger,  as 
be  liable  to  meet  him  on  my  stairway,  or  to  rub 
shoulders  with  him  over  my  threshold ;  especially 
when  his  right  to  be  there  is  as  good  as  mine. 
There  is  an  indelicacy  about  it,  as  if  a  dozen  or 
twenty  people  were  all  to  eat  and  speak  through 
one  mouth.  The  street  does  not  stop  outside  the 


200  SAXON   STUDIES. 

house ;  it  eddies  into  the  hall,  and  forces  its  dirty 
current  up-stairs.  True,  there  is  another  door  with- 
in but  after  we  have  given  "up  our  outworks,  few 
people  will  believe  in  the  genuineness  of  our  inner 
defences.  The  spell  of  reserve  is  broken. 

This  may  be  esteemed  a  fanciful  objection  to 
the  "  Flat  "  system,  which,  I  see,  is  gaining  favor 
in  America,  on  the  score  of  cheapness  and  com- 
pactness. If  we  will  frankly  call  such  establish- 
ments hotels,  we  may  at  least  escape  the  evil  of 
growing  to  believe  them  Ironies.  Home  is  no  less 
sacred  a  word  than  ever,  though,  like  other  Eng- 
lish words  nowadays,  it  is  getting  to  be  much  des- 
ecrated in  the  appliance  ;  and  I  fear  these  common 
doors,  standing  always  ajar,  may  let  escape  many 
delicate  beauties  and  refinements  whose  value  is 
not  fanciful,  but  inestimable. 

To  be  sure,  hall-porters  have  lately  been  intro- 
duced in  the  more  modern  and  pretentious  houses, 
whose  business  it  is  to  keep  the  door  shut,"  and 
only  to  open  it  when  somebody  wishes  to  come  in, 
and  not  to  admit  beggars  or  disreputable  persons. 
Their  position  is  not  a  sinecure.  I  made  the  ac- 
quaintance of  a  Dresden  hall-porter,  and  observed 
his  proceedings  for  a  whole  year.  He  was  a  small, 
cringing,  hook-nosed  man,  with  thick,  straight,  black 
hair,  short,  black  beard,  and  a  ghastly  pallor  of 


STONE   AND   PLASTER.  201 

complexion  which  no  stress  of  circumstances  could 
ever  modify.  He  cultivated  that  philosopher's  de- 
sideratum, a  continual  smile,  and  he  was  full  of  becks, 
nods,  obeisances,  and  grimaces.  He  rose  at  five  in 
summer,  and,  I  believe,  not  more  than  an  hour  later 
than  that  in  winter.  Why  so  early,  I  know  not ; 
there  seemed  not  much  to  do  besides  sweeping  out 
the  hall,  knocking  the  door-mat  against  the  jamb, 
and  exchanging  a  morning  greeting  with  the  char- 
woman of  the  house  opposite.  But  he  was  a  mar- 
ried man,  and  may  have  had  some  household  jobs 
of  his  own  to  attend  to.  He  and  his  wife  lived 
in  two  rooms  adjoining  the  hall- way,  so  narrow 
and  close  that  any  respectable  house-rat  would 
have  turned  up  his  nose  at  them.  The  porter  fol- 
lowed some  small  handicraft  or  other,  whereby  to 
eke  out  his  salary ;  and  at  odd  moments  I  could 
see  him  at  the  side  window,  working  away,  but 
ever  keeping  an  eye  to  the  sidewalk  for  visitors. 
He  could  lift  the  door-latch  without  leaving  his 
seat,  by  means  of  a  wire  pulley,  and  when  a  den- 
izen of  the  house  approached,  the  door  would 
spring  open  a#  if  to  welcome  an  old  friend,  before 
he  could  lay  his  hand  to  the  bell-handle ;  but 
strangers  had  to  ring.  In  winter,  I  fear  the  por-" 
ter  had  a  sour,  meagre  time  of  it.  Besides  the  ex- 
tra work  of  clearing  away  the  ice  and  snow,  there 


202  SAXON   STUDIES. 

was  the  cold,  which  he  could  not  do  away  with. 
But  in  summer  he  was  happier ;  he  wore  a  striped 
linen  jacket  and  a  long  dirty  apron,  and  was  very 
active  with  his  broom,  and  his  street  watering-pot. 
He  had  a  great  circle  of  acquaintances,  and  his 
little  hall-room  had  its  fill  of  visitors  at  all  times. 
He  was  a  very  sink  of  private  information,  knew 
all  that  the  housemaids  of  the  various  Stages  could 
tell  him,  and  had  understandings  with  all  the 
tradesmen's  boys  who  brought  parcels  for  members 
of  the  household.  Whether  there  was  an  escape- 
pipe  for  this  deluge  of  confidences,  must  have  been 
a  question  of  some  moment  to  those  who  were  dis- 
cussed. / 

All  at  once  a  baby  was  born ;  it  looked  as  if 
nothing  could  prevent  its  dying  instantly ;  but  it 
lived,  and  I  dare  say  is  alive  now.  The  little 
porter  was  as  proud  of  his  baby  as  though  there 
had  been  the  germ  of  a  Goethe  in  it ;  he  held  it 
constantly  in  his  arms,  and  clucked  at  it  and  dan- 
dled it  unweariably.  All  the  gossips  admired  it, 
and  the  people  in  the  house  stopped  to  smile  at  it 
as  they  passed  through  the  hall.  I  doubt  not  that 
various  bits  of  baby-furniture,  useful  or  playful, 
found  their  way  down-stairs  from  the  upper  floors ; 
for  babies  make  even  Saxons  forget  themselves  for 
a  moment.  No  doubt,  too,  any  little  deficiency  of 


STONE   AND   PLASTER.  203 

water  in  the  cisterns,  or  irregularity  in  the  gas- 
lighting,  or  delay  in  bringing  up  letters  and  visit- 
ing cards  was  condoned  for  a  time.  The  porter 
might  reasonably  have  wished  that  the  baby  should 
be  renewed  as  often  as  once  every  four  or  five 
months. 

Next  to  the  baby,  the  porter's  trump  card  was 
a  gigantic  dog,  a  cross  between  a  Newfoundland 
and  a  Saint  Bernard.  He  was  as  big  as  a  Shet- 
land pony,  and  lay  majestically  about  the  hall,  or 
stalked  lion-like  up  and  down  the  sidewalk.  The 
chief  objection  to  him  was  that  he  was  above 
keeping  himself  clean,  and  had  no  valet  to  do  it 
for  him ;  and  whoever  made  bold  to  caress  him 
had  reason  to  remember  it  for  the  rest  of  the  day. 
Nevertheless,  this  huge  beast  slept  in  the  porter's 
room,  filling  up  all  the  space  unoccupied  by  the 
porter  himself ;  and,  considering  that  fresh  air  was 
rigorously  excluded  in  summer  as  well  as  in  win- 
ter^  it  was  a  constant  surprise  to  me  to  see  the 
porter  appear,  morning  after  morning,  apparently 
no  worse  off  than  when  he  went  to  bed.  But  I 
do  the  dog  injustice  ;  it  was  he  who  suffered  and 
degenerated  ;  why  should  he  be  forced  to  share  his 
kennel  with  the  porter  ?  There  was  in  him  a  capac- 
ity for  better  things  ;  for  when  the  porter  watered 
the  lawn  at  the  back  of  the  house  with  the  garden 


204  SAXON   STUDIES.      . 

hose-pipe,  the  dog  would  rash  into  the  line  of  the 
stream  and  take  it  point-blank  on  his  muzzle, 
barking  and  jumping  with  delight.  But  the  por- 
ter never  took  the  hint  home  to  himself,  nor  un- 
derstood, I  suppose,  what  pleasure  the  dog  could 
find  in  being  wetted. 

The  porter's  bearing  towards  the  various  inhab- 
itants of  the  house  was  accurately  graduated  in 
accordance  with  their  elevation  above  the  ground 
floor.  With  the  waifs  of  the  attic  he  was  hail- 
fellow-well-met.  Pleasantly  affable  was  his  de- 
meanor to  the  respectable  families  on  the  third 
e"tage,  whose  rent  did  not  exceed  £150  a  year. 
The  second  floor,  at  £300,  commanded  his  cordial 
respect  and  good  offices ;  while  speechless,  abject 
reverence,  and  a  blue  dress-coat  with  brass  buttons, 
fail  to  express  his  state  of  mind  towards  the  six- 
hundred-pounders  of  the  first  landing.  This  be- 
havior of  his  was  not  so  much  acquired,  as  an 
instinct.  The .  personality  of  its  recipients  had  noth- 
ing to  do  with  it ;  were  Agamemnon,  on  the  first 
e"tage,  to  change  places  with  Thersites  in  the  attic, 
our  porter  would  slap  the  king  of  men  on  the 
back  at  their  next  meeting,  and  hustle  him  out  of 
the  way  of  Thersites,  when  the  latter  came  down 
to  his  carriage.  Moreover,  if  Agamemnon  were  a 
Saxon,  he  would  not  dream  of  getting  indignant 
at  this  novel  treatment. 


STONE  AND   PLASTER.  205 

But  hall-porters  do  not  strike  at  the  root  of  this 
common-door  evil ;  on  the  contrary,  by  pruning 
away  the  ranker  leaves,  they  make  the  ill  weed  grow 
the  stronger.  The  door  is  still  open  to  whomever 
chooses  to  enter,  and  would  be  just  as  common, 
were  an  especial  passport  from  Berlin  necessary  for 
every  crossing  of  the  threshold.  If  decency  is  to 
be  outraged,  it  is  of  no  real  moment  whether  it 
be  done  directly  or  indirectly.  There  is  a  vast 
moral  advantage  in  the  feeling  that  our  home  is 
our  own,  from  the  garden-gate  to  the  bed-chamber. 
Any  infringement  thereof  is  a  first  step  towards 
Communism  ;  and  I  do  not  believe  that  a  person 
of  refinement  can  become  accustomed  to  the  "  Flat" 
system  without  undergoing  more  or  less  abrasion 
—  or  what  is  worse,  hardening  —  of  the  moral  cu- 
ticle. Between  vertical  and  horizontal  living  there 
is  even  more  of  a  difference  than  of  a  distinction. 
To  sit  between  two  men  —  one  on  the  right  hand, 
the  other  on  the  left  —  is  endurable  ;  but  not  so 
the  being  sandwiched,  prone,  over  one  man  and 
underneath  the  other.  We  can  neither  raise  our 
eyes  to  heaven,  nor  set  our  feet  upon  the  earth ; 
a  human  body  intercepts  us  in  both  directions. 
Surely  one  door  is  not  enough  for  so  great  an  es- 
cape as  is  needed  here. 


206  SAXON  STUDIES. 


III. 

IN  these  houses  people  begin  to  live  beneath  the 
level  of  the  pavement,  and  thence  ascend  until 
scarce  a  tile  intervenes  between  them  and  heaven. 
The  basement  people  must  take  degraded  views  of 
life.  They  see  only  feet  and  legs  and  dirty  petti- 
coats, and  their  window-panes  are  spattered  with 
mud  from  the  sidewalk.  Living  up  to  their  necks 
in  earth  must  considerably  impede  them  in  the 
race,  not  to  speak  of  the  crushing  weight  of  five 
or  six  stories  overhead.  If  they  were  deeper  down 
it  would  not  be  so  bad,  for  there  is  a  mystery 
about  the  depths  of  our  mother  earth  —  a  blind 
recognition,  perhaps,  of  the  interest  of  buried  ages ; 
and  we  get  so  much  from  the  earth  —  everything 
except  our  souls,  let  us  say, — that  what  concerns 
her  is  our  concern  also.  Miners  are  a  fine  symbol 
of  materialism.  They  live  in  the  earth  —  earth  en- 
compasses them  :  no  firmament  too  high  to  be  reached 
with  a  ladder;  many  strange  things,  but  none  that 
may  not  be  handled ;  a  world  of  facts,  wherein  they 


STONE   AND   PLASTER.  207 

stand  self-contained  and  gloomily  serene.  As  we,  sit- 
ting in-doors,  pity  the  wayfarers  exposed  to  the  in- 
clemency without,  so  do  these  miners  pity  and  de- 
spise us,  exposed  to  the  blue  and  white  glare  of  the 
bold  heavens,  stared  out  of  countenance  by  sun 
and  moon,  blown  by  winds  and  wet  with  rain. 
Who  can  sympathize  with  the  sky  ?  Yet  sooner 
or  later  all  must  revisit  the  surface,  if  only  to  be 
buried  there. 

But  the  grave  and  taciturn  miners,  whom  we 
often  meet  on  our  walks  towards  Tharandt,  with 
their  odd  costume  and  gruff  "  Gliick  auf  !  "  are  a 
very  different  race  from  the  dwellers  in  basements. 
These  poor  creatures,  being  half  in  and  half  out, 
can  claim  neither  heaven  nor  earth,  but  are  ex- 
posed to  the  wrath  of  both.  The  feverish  damps 
have  entered  into  their  blood,  and  their  sallow 
faces,  as  they  peer  up  at  us  from  the  underground 
windows,  seem  more  clay  than  flesh.  I  am,  how- 
ever, able  to  record  one  cheerful  exception,  which 
will  help  us  to  take  leave  of  the  basements  with  a 
pleasant  savor  in  our  nostrils.  It  is  on  the  north- 
eastern corner  of  See  and  Waisenhausstrasse.  Here 
the  sidewalk  consists  partly  of  a  grating,  in  pass- 
ing over  which  a  most  appetizing  odor  salutes  us. 
We  glance  downwards  through  a  subterranean  win- 
dow, where  behold  two  or  three  stalwart  cooks  in 


208    .  SAXON   STUDIES. 

white  aprons  and  paper  caps,  frying  delectable 
veal  cutlets  over  a  glowing  range.  The  window 
is  open  at  the  top,  and  the  spiritual  essence  of  the 
cutlets  rises  through  the  aperture  to  delight  our 
noses.  As  we  pause  to  sniff  once  more,  the  fat- 
test of  the  cooks  tips  back  his  paper  cap  and 
wipes  his  sweating  brow  with  his  warm,  bare  arm. 
Phew  !  here,  at  all  events,  is  more  flesh,  than  clay. 
The  fat  cook's  glance  meets  ours,  and  we  exchange 
a  sociable  grin.  He  is  chef  of  the  Victoria  Keller, 
and  we  know  his  cutlets  of  old. 


STONE   AND   PLASTER.  209 


IV. 

IN  the  houses  which  are  only  dwelling-houses, 
the  next  step  above  the  basement  is  to  the  Par- 
terre, which  is  generally  raised  some  four  or  five 
feet  above  the  sidewalk  level.  But  the  great  mass 
of  houses  in  the  city  are  shops  in  their  lower  story, 
and  attain  the  heights  of  gentility  only  after  climb- 
ing a  flight  of  stairs.  There  is  a  subdued  mellow 
splendor  about  Dresden  shops  such  as  I  have  not 
seen  exactly  paralleled  anywhere  else.  Perhaps 
the  gloom  of  the  narrow  streets  and  the  musty 
drab  color  of  the  houses  enhance  these  splendid 
windows  by  contrast.  But  the  shopkeepers  give 
much  time  and  thought  to  the  artistic  arrangement 
of  their  wares ;  it  is  a  matter  which  they  understand 
and  into  which  they  can  put  their  whole  souls,  and 
the  result  does  them  credit.  Each  window  is  a 
picture,  with  height,  depth,  breadth,  and  chiaro- 
oscuro  all  complete ;  and  far  more  attractive  pict- 
ures, to  most  people,  than  those  on  the  walls  of 
the  gallery.  Moreover,  the  details  are  altered  every 
morning,  and  at  longer  intervals  there  is  a  recast- 

14 


210  SAXON   STUDIES. 

ing  of  the  entire  design ;  so  that  the  fascination 
of  life  is  added  to  the  other  fascinations.  And, 
finally,  the  shops  are  so  immediately  accessible  that 
it  seems  rather  easier  to  go  into  them  than  not. 
Our  timidity  is  not  daunted  by  imposing  doorways, 
nor  is  our  inertia  discouraged  by  dignified  flights 
of  steps  and  broad  approaches.  Within,  we  take 
off  our  hats,  say  good-morning,  and  feel  perfectly 
at  home.  However  fine  the  wares  may  be,  we  are 
distracted  by  no  grandeur  of  architecture ;  and  we 
are  waited  on  by  attendants,  not  by  ladies  and 
gentlemen.  We  bid  adieu  at  parting,  and  hardly 
realize,  as  we  regain  the  sidewalk,  that  we  have 
actually  been  shopping  at  all. 

These  are  some  of  the  lights  of  the  picture;  there 
are  shadows  —  heavy  ones  !  After  some  delibera- 
tion, however,  I  think  there  will  be  little  use  in 
attempting  to  reproduce  them.  Those  whose  lives 
have  been  crossed  by  them  will  not  care  to  have 
the  experience  recalled ;  while  the  uninitiated  can 
never  be  brought  to  believe  in  their  depth  and 
blackness.  Be  it  merely  observed,  therefore,  that 
Dresden  shopkeepers  are  sufficiently  inspired  with 
a  desire  to  prosper  in  trade.  It  may  be  conject- 
ured that  they  give  their  minds  to  their  business ; 
certainly  the  reproach  of  discursive  attainments  can- 
not be  brought  against  them.  Their  heads,  so  far 


STONE   AND    PLASTER.  211 

as  intellectual  value  is  concerned,  are  about  on  a 
par  with  the  silver  effigies  on  the  thaler  which 
they  cherish.  I  have  somewhere  seen  it  asserted 
that  the  German  tradesman  is  notably  of  a  scien- 
tific, philosophic,  and  aesthetic  turn,  and  that,  in 
the  intervals  of  labor,  he  snatches  up  his  volume 
of  Rosencranz,  Lemcke,  Bolzmann,  or  Goethe,  from 
the  perusal  of  which  the  very  chink  of  coin  will 
scarcely  win  him. 

So  far  as  my  observation  goes,  this  is  a  cruel 
and  unfounded  aspersion  upon  the  character  of  a 
guild  whose  singleness  of  purpose  has  profoundly 
impressed  me.  They  do  not  know  what  Science 
and  Philosophy  are.  They  will  not  read  even  a 
novel,  nor  yet  a  newspaper,  unless  it  be  the  Boerse 
Zeitung.  They  look  at  the  pictures  in  Kladder- 
adatsch,  but  do  not  understand  the  political  allu- 
sions. Their  eyes  are  dull  to  the  culture  and  prog- 
ress of  the  world,  and,  to  all  that  is  above  the 
world,  wholly  blind.  But  they  can  spy  a  bargain 
through  a  stone  wall,  and  a  thievish  advantage 
through  the  lid  of  a  coffin.  Nevertheless,  I  am  of 
opinion  that  a  wider  culture  might  help  them  to 
be  even  more  truly  themselves  than  they  are  now. 
Beautiful  as  is  the  untutored  earnestness  of  their 
character  to  the  eye  of  the  psychologist,  to  the 
man  of  the  world  they  seem  deficient  in  the 


212  SAXON   STUDIES. 

breadth  and  grasp  of  mind  which  would  enable 
them  most  effectively  to  carry  out  their  designs. 
With  all  the  disposition  to  steal  that  an  ardent 
Saxon  nature  can  have,  they  lack  the  wisdom  so  to 
commit  their  thefts  as  to  secure  the  largest  and 
most  permanent  returns.  There  is  a  rugged  di- 
rectness in  the  way  they  pick  our  pockets  which 
at  first  charms  us  by  its  naivet£,  but  ends  with 
wounding  our  feelings  and  lowering  our  self-esteem. 
They  take  so  little  trouble-  to  make  their  .lies 
plausible,  that  we  cannot  pretend  to  believe  them 
without  blushing.  It  is  easy  to  pay  a  bill  of  three 
times  the  amount  of  the  original  charges  ;  but  to 
pay  again  and  again  for  things  which  we  never 
had,  and  which  it  is  not  even  feigned  that  we  ever 
had,  gets  to  be  almost  painfully  embarrassing.  If 
I  lay  my  purse  upon  the  counter,  it  would  evince 
a  delicacy  of  sentiment  in  the  shopkeeper  to  wait 
until  I  had  turned  away  my  eyes  before  taking  it. 
Such  a  course  would  be  to  his  advantage,  besides ; 
for  I  could  then  ignore  the  theft,  and  we  could 
continue  our  relations  with  the  same  frankness  and 
cordiality  as  before,  and  in  due  course  of  time  I 
might  let  him  steal  my  purse  again.  But  openly  to 
transfer  it  to  his  till,  while  I  am  looking  straight 
at  it,  seems  to  me  tantamount  to  a  wanton  rupture 
of  our  acquaintance.  There  is  originality,  there  is 


STONE  AND  PLASTER.  213 

vigor,  there  is  noble  simplicity  in  the  act,  if  you 
will;  but  our  effete  civilization  is  apt  to  forget  its 
beauties  in  shuddering  at  its  lack  of  clothing. 

This  ruggedness  is  largely  fostered,  no  doubt,  by 
the  continual  shifting  of  the  foreign  population. 
A  customer  who  is  here  to-day  and  gone  to-mor- 
row must  evidently  be  robbed  without  delay ;  and 
it  makes  little  difference  how,  since  there  will  be 
another  to  take  his  place.  So  demoralizing  is 
travel  to  the  places  which  are  travelled  through ! 
If  a  permanent  colony  of  philanthropic  English 
and  Americans  would  establish  themselves  in  Dres- 
den, 1  question  not  that,  in  the  course  of  a  few 
years,  the  whole  mercantile  community  would  be 
educated  into  such  accomplished  thieves  that  they 
could  steal  twice  as  much  as  now,  without  creating 
a  tithe  of  the  awkwardness  and  misunderstanding 
which  at  present  exist.  Persons  in  search  of  a  mis- 
sion would  do  well  to  ponder  this  enterprise. 


214  SAXON   STUDIES. 


V. 

PASSING-  over,  then,  the  darker  shadows  apper- 
taining to  the  Dresden  merchant  guild,  let  us  re- 
vert to  the  cheery  spectacle  of  the  shop  windows. 
The  mercers'  are  the  best  off  for  color  ;  they  some- 
times look  like  giant  rosettes,  with  tints  sweetly 
harmonized.  There  is  a  bald-headed  gentleman  on 
Seestrasse  who-  arranges  his  silks  in  a  fresh  com- 
bination every  morning,  and  then  steps  into  the 
street  and  contemplates  the  effect  with  sidelong 
glances  and  hands  clasped  in  silent  rapture  on  his 
shirt-bosom.  He  forgets  that  his  head  is  hatless  — 
not  to  mention  its  hairlessness  ;  he  does  not  heed 
the  unsympathetic  world-stream,  hurrying  past ;  the 
universe  is  an  unstable  vision,  but  the  silks  are 
real,  are  beautiful,  are  tastefully  arranged.  We 
cannot  withhold  our  respect  from  this  man.  He  is 
as  sincere  an  enthusiast  as  Luther  or  Mahomet, 
and  no  less  estimable  in  his  degree.  Undoubtedly 
he  is  a  happier  man  than  either,  for  I  never  saw 
him  dissatisfied  with  his  work. 

But    the    windows    of   the    stationers'    shops   are 


STONE   AND   PLASTER.  215 

more  generally  attractive.  Here  is  a  world  of  pho- 
tographs from  life,  from  still-life,  and  from  art,  an- 
cient and  modern.  There  is  a  sympathy  between 
photographs  and  travelling ;  they  are  mathematical 
functions  of  each  other.  Dresden  photographs  are 
remarkable  for  their  softness  and  delicate  tone  — 
qualities  which  appear  to  depend  in  some  measure 
upon  the  atmosphere,  but  still  more,  I  fancy,  upon 
the  care  and  skill  wherewith  they  are  "  finished " 
in  India  ink  and  white.  There  is  a  certain  Pro- 
fessor Schurig,  whose  profession  seems  to  be  mak- 
ing crayon  copies  of  the  more  famous  pictures  in 
the  Gallery  ;  and  these  crayons  are  diligently  pho- 
tographed in  every  gradation  of  size.  The  Profes- 
sor is  sometimes  very  felicitous,  but  within  the  last 
year  photographs  have  been  taken  from  the  famous 
originals ;  and  though  they  appear  rough  and 
stained  and  obscure,  there  is  always  a  gleam  of  di- 
vine expression  somewhere  about  them,  which  tran- 
scends the  art  of  the  most  curious  copyist.  Be- 
sides these,  there  are '  a  great  many  of  Goupil's 
French  reproductions,  and  a  whole  army  of  female 
deities,  as  well  of  this  as  of  more  primitive  ages. 
It  is  a  singular  fact  that  the  wholly  naked  god- 
desses of  ancient  mythology  look  incomparably  more 
modest  than  do  the  half-clothed  divinities  of  to-day. 
The  reason  may  be  that  the  former  were  never 


216  SAXON   STUDIES. 

aware  that  their  unconsciousness  would  one  day  be 
photographed ;  but  what  a  shame  that  our  modern 
nymphs  should  labor  under  so  embarrassing  a  dis- 
advantage ! 

An  artistic  fruit  more  native  to  Dresden  is  the 
china-painting,  of  which  there  are  many  exhibitions 
in  town.  It  is  all  copying-work,  save  for  such  orig- 
inality as  may  belong  to  an  inaccurate  imitation. 
Accuracy,  indeed,  is  not  aimed  at ;  for  even  if  at- 
tained in  the  painting,  the  subsequent  baking  would 
warp  it  wrong  again.  But  the  effects  produced 
are  marvellously  soft,  glowing,  and  pure  ;  and  such 
brilliant  falsehoods  are  generally  preferred  to  the 
black-and-white  truth  of  photography.  Justly  so, 
perhaps,  since  black-and-white  is  not  the  whole 
truth,  and  color  is  often  of  more  significance  than 
form.  A  new  application  of  this  art  is  to  copying 
cartes-de-visite,  with  better  success  than  might  be 
expected.  The  most  satisfactory  results  are  with 
the  faces  of  old  people  and  young  children  :  in  the 
first  the  furrows  and  wrinkles  are  guiding-lines  to 
the  draughtsman ;  in  the  others  there  are  few  fixed 
and  definite  traits  in  which  to  err.  But  the  subtle 
curves  and  changing  yet  expressive  contours  of 
youth  make  game  of  the  artist's  efforts.'  The  best 
thing  to  do  with  paintings  of  this  kind  is  to  inlay 
them  as  medallions  in  ebony  and  marqueterie  cabi- 


STONE  AND  PLASTER.  217 

nets.     So  placed,  they  look   like   great   jewels,  and 
any  minor  inaccuracies  are  unnoticeable. 

As  for  the  Dresden  —  that  is,  the  Meissen  porce- 
lain—  it  is  too  delicate  a  topic  for  such  rough 
notes  as  these.  I  went  to  Meissen  once,  and  saw 
it  made  and  painted.  I  walked  up  and  down 
long  cool  corridors,  and  peeped  into  oblong  rooms 
where  five  hundred  sickly  young  men  are  always  at 
work,  each  repeating  forever  his  especial  detail,  and 
never  getting  a  step  beyond  it.  I  saw  little  legs 
and  arms  and  heads  and  trunks  come  out  perfect 
from  separate  moulds,  and  presently  build  them- 
selves into  a  pigmy  man  or  woman.  In  another 
apartment  I  saw  flowers  painted  so  rapidly  and 
well,  that  they  seemed  to  blossom  beneath  the  paint- 
er's fingers.  No  flower-painting  surpasses  the  best 
work  of  these  young  fellows  —  for  they  almost  all 
are  young.  They  apotheosize  Watteau,  too,  making 
him  out  a  more  cunning  artist  than  he  was.  I  am 
speaking  of  the  flat  work  ;  the  raised  flowers  are 
hideous,  indecent,  and  soulless.  It  is  no  small 
labor  to  model  them,  and  wonders  of  skill  they 
are ;  but  what  sort  of  a  Frankenstein  must  he 
have  been  who  first  conceived  and  carried  out  the 
idea  of  making  them !  No  flowers  grow  on  his 
grave,  I  think  ;  but  it  would  have  been  a  poetical 
justice  to  bury  him  in  a  heap  of  his  own  roses. 


218  SAXON   STUDIES. 

The  little  porcelain  people  are  not  so  objection- 
able, except  when  they  are  made  to  pose  at  ease 
on  the  precipitous  slopes  of  slippery  vases.  They 
are  much  better  before  baking  than  afterwards, 
however ;  for  they  emerge  from  the  fiery  furnace 
with  a  highly  polished  surface  which  is  beautiful 
in  itself,  but  far  too  lustrous  to  be  human.  ...  I 
will  not  moralize  here  ;  but  on  the  whole  I  wish 
a  bull  would  get  into  the  Meissen  china-shop  and 
smash  everything  except  the  simple  flower-painted 
vases  and  dishes.  There  is  one  vase  with  a  flower- 
wreath  round  it,  which  seems  just  to  have  been 
dropped  there,  fresh,  fragrant,  and  dewy  from  some 
Juliet's  garden  —  a  wreath  which  should  immortalize 
him  who  created  it.  "  Ja,"  assents  our  Saxon  con- 
ductor, "  es  ist  ja  wunderschoen ;  but  here,  best  sir, 
here  is  what  far  outdoes  the  nature  ;  behold  it,  the 
pride  of  our  manufactory  —  a  porcelain  violet, 
modelled  by  hand,  tinted  to  the  life,  baked,  glazed, 
perfect !  Verily  a  masterpiece ;  and  to  think  that 
a  trumpery,  good-for-nothing  little  violet  should 
have  inspired  a  work  of  art  like  that !  Strange  — 
oh,  wonderful !  " 

It  is  strange,  irideed.  However,  we  are  not  in 
Meissen.  In  Dresden  is  only  one  legitimate  por- 
celain shop,  containing  specimens  of  all  the  work 
produced.  After  the  vases,  the  things  best  worth 


STONE   AND   PLASTER.  219 

studying  are  a  pair  of  Chinese  personages  —  a  lady 
and  gentleman  —  who  squat  cross-legged  on  porce- 
lain cushions,  smiling  broadly,  and  hanging  their 
hands  as  only  the  Chinese  can.  We  jog  them  a 
little,  and  instantly  they  become  alive  —  they  move  ! 
They  wag  their  grinning  heads  and  stick  out  their 
pointed  red  tongues  with  a  jolly,  leering,  Chinese 
impropriety  impossible  to  describe.  Their  hands 
move  up  and  down  in  a  slow  ecstasy  of  ineffable 
Mongolian  significance.  Really  it  is  an  impressive 
sight :  we  see  them  long  afterwards,  wagging  and 
leering  at  us,  in  our  dreams.  The  unanswerable 
question  is,  which  of  the  two  is  the  more  scanda- 
lously fascinating. 

Next  to  this  happy  pair,  I  like  an  epergne, 
where  three  charming  young  women  — the  Graces, 
by  their  costume  —  embrace  a  thick  column  which 
expands  above  into  a  dish.  A  most  comfortable 
design  ;  for  it  always  appears  to  me  that  Aglaia, 
Thalia,  and  Euphrosyne  have  got  hold  of  a  round 
German  stove,  and  are  warming  their  pretty  little 
porcelain  stomachs  against  it.  None  of  the  ancient 
sculptors  have  represented  them  doing  anything 
half  so  cosy  and  sensible.  The  notion  gives  the 
group  just  that  touch  of  humor  which  it  requires 
to  be  interesting.  Beauty,  simple  and  severe, 
should  never  be  attempted  in  tinted,  melodramatic 


220-  SAXON  STUDIES. 

sculpture  such  as  this  :  though  our  Saxon  artists  can 
in  no  wise  be  brought  to  believe  it.  They  enjoy 
sentimentality  more  than  fun  ;  and  this  is  one  rea- 
son why  their  sentimentality  is  so  sickly. 

They  succeed  better  with  meerschaum.  -The  god- 
dess Nicotine  has  a  fund  of  good  sense,  which 
prompts  her  as  a  general  thing,  to  put  a  smile, 
either  broad  or  latent,  into  the  carving  of  her 
pipes  and  cigar-holders.  The  material  is  more 
beautiful  than  either  marble  or  porcelain,  and  is 
delightful  to  work  in.  A  man  of  leisure,  educa- 
tion, and  refinement  might  benefit  both  himself  and 
the  world  by  devoting  his  whole  attention  to  cut- 
ting and  polishing  meerschaum.  There  is  unlimited 
field  for  inventive  design,  for  taste,  for  humor,  for 
manual  skill  and  delicacy.  And  how  pleasant  to 
reflect  that  each  pipe,  over  which  we  thought  and 
labored  our  best,  will  become  the  bosom  friend  of 
some  genial,  appreciative  fellow,  who  will  discover 
its  good  points,  and  be  proud  of  them  and  love 
them.  For  all  good  smokers  are  married  to  their 
pipe;  are  sensitive  to  its  critics  and  jealous  of  its 

rivals.     And  when  the  pipe  is  worthy  of   affection, 

_  * 
it  endears  itself   ever  more  and  more  ;   and  though 

it  be  colored  black  with  nicotine,  is  tinged  yet 
more  deeply  with  the  rich  essence  of  mellow  remi- 
niscences and  comfortable  associations. 


STONE   AND   PLASTER.  221 

The  Viennese  do  their  work  well,  and  perhaps 
have  a  special  knack  at  it.  There  was  once,  in 
this  window  which  we  are  now  contemplating,  a 
Skye  terrier's  head,  about  the  size  of  a  clenched 
fist,  with  mouth  half  open  and  hair  on  end,  which 
only  needed  a  body  to  begin  barking.  It  was 
bought  by  a  Scotchman  for  twelve  pounds,  which, 
if  the  animal  was  of  the  true  meerschaum  breed, 
was  dog-cheap.  This  question  of  genuineness,  by 
the  way,  is  one  which  every  tyro  believes  he  can 
settle  at  a  glance.  There  'are,  he  tells  you,  a  few 
simple  and  infallible  tests,  easily  learnt  and  readily 
applied ;  he  talks  about  weight,  tint,  texture,  spon- 
giness ;  and  assures  you  that  if  you  are  ever  taken 
in,  only  your  own  carelessness  is  to  blame. 

It  is  a  fallacy  from  beginning  to  end.  There  is 
no  way  of  "  telling "  a  meerschaum,  except  to 
smoke  it  for  at  least  a  year.  We  may  amuse  our- 
selves with  applying  tests,  if  we  like,  but  they  will 
demonstrate  only  our  fatuity.  The  dealer  is  as 
impotent  to  decide  as  anybody,  so  far  as  judgment 
by  inspection  goes :  unless  he  be  prompted  by  the 
maker.  But  even  the  maker  will  be  at  a  loss 
between  two  pipes,  the  history  of  whose  making 
he  has  forgotten.  We  might  go  back  still  farther, 
and  ascribe  the  only  trustworthy  knowledge  to  the 
Natolian  miner,  who  digs  the  clay  out  of  the  earth. 


222  SAXON   STUDIES. 

Meerschaum  is  like  woman's  heart  —  as  soft,  as  light, 
as  brittle,  and  as  enigmatic,  and  only  time  and  use 
can  prove  it  true. 

Pipes  are  bought  chiefly  by  foreigners ;  Ger- 
mans use  meerschaum  in  the  form  of  cigar-holders 
—  "  Spitzen,"  they  call  them.  Spitzen  are  econom- 
ical, but  not  otherwise  desirable ;  they  enable  us  to 
smoke  our  cigar  to  the  bitter  end,  but  they  are  an 
"unnecessary  and  troublesome  encumbrance.  Never- 
theless, they  are  popular,  for  they  color  more 
evenly  and  farther  towards  the  mouth  than  pipes 
do,  and  they  are  more  striking  in  appearance.  But 
I  scarcely  think  they  insinuate  themselves  far  into 
their  owner's  secret  affections ;  a  man  of  sentiment 
may  have  vanity  enough  to  wear  one  in  public, 
but  in  private  he  will  not  be  bothered  with  it. 
Coarse,  hard  men,  devoid  of  sentiment,  and  of  the 
fine  quality  which  can  appreciate  the  quiet  charms 
of  a  pipe,  are  precisely  .fitted  to  enjoy  the  ostenta- 
tion of  a  Spitze. 

Tobacco  plays  so  prominent  a  rdle  in  a  Saxon's 
life  —  so  perfumes  the  air  and  impregnates  the 
lungs  —  that  we  are  insensibly  led  %  to  discuss  it  at 
some  length.  Probably  there  are  not  ten  right- 
eous men  in  Dresden  who  do  not  smoke  or  snuff  — 
chewing,  luckily,  is  unknown,  though  I  believe  the 
practice  originated  hereabouts.  I  have  often  met  on 


STONE   AND   PLASTER.  223 

the  street  a  hundred  men  in  succession,  no  one  with- 
out his  cigar.  Cigar-smoking,  it  should  be  observed, 
is  not  an  expensive  habit  in  Dresden ;  it  may  be  in- 
dulged to  excess  for  not  more  than  two  pounds  ster- 
ling a  year.  Half  as  much  will  provide  three  not  in- 
tolerable cigars  daily.  Moreover,  it  is  to  be  borne 
in  mind  that  no  true-born  Saxon  ever  throws  away 
a  cigar,  or  any  part  of  one.  f  He  consumes  it  in 
instalments,  and  his  pockets  and  cupboards  are  full 
of  pestilent  remnants  from  half  an  inch  to  three 
inches  long.  A  learned  Professor,  whom  I  visited 
occasionally,  passed  his  life  at  a  study-desk,  every 
loophole  and  cranny  of  which  harbored  cigar  stumps 
of  various  ages  and  sizes.  My  first  supposition  was 
that  here  was  an  eccentric  recluse,  whose  whim  it 
was  to  rake  together  this  kind  of  unsavory  relics. 
But  I  presently  saw  him  select  the  most  ancient, 
stalest  stump  from  its  hiding-place  in  the  most 
cobwebbed  cranny,  and  kindle  it  into  activity 
with  a  sulphur  match.  He  preferred  such  resusci- 
tated corpses  —  an  old  tobacco-vulture,  with  a  mor- 
bid craving  for  carrion ! 

This  same  people  smoke  Russian  cigarettes  —  the 
most  ethereal  guise  under  which  tobacco  presents 
itself.  The  variety  used  is  Turkish,  erroneously 
called  Latakia :  it  is  so  pungent  that  —  except 
hookahs  —  the  cigarette  is  the  only,  available  form 


224  SAXON   STUDIES. 

for  it.  Ladies  smoke  these  cigarettes,  though  only 
the  Poles  and  Russians  do  so  publicly — they,  indeed, 
smoke  cigars  quite  as  readily,  and  for  my  own  part  I 
much  enjoy  the  spectacle.  Not  only  do  they  appear 
admirable  as  regards  their  dainty  manipulation  and 
osculation  of  the  weed,  but  their  smoking  lends  an 
oriental  flavor  to  the  scene,  whereof  the  fumes  of  the 
tobacco  are  but  the  material  emblem.  When  an  Eng- 
lish or  American  lady  smokes,  she  simply  commits  a 
small  impropriety  ;  but  in  the  mouth  of  a  fair  for- 
eigner, who  has  been  brought  up  to  know  no  better, 
a  cigar  is  a  wand  to  conjure  up  romantic  visions 
and  Eastern  fantasies.  The  gentle  reader  will  un- 
derstand me  aright,  nor  seek  to  put  me  out  of 
countenance  by  evoking  images  of  coarse,  black- 
pipe-puffing  Indian  squaws  and  Irishwomen. 

An  idiocrasy  of  Dresden,  or  perhaps  of  Ger- 
many, is  the  sausage  and  smoked-meat  shop.  It  is 
kept  clean  as  a  pin  in  every  part.  The  dressers 
are  glistening  white  limestone ;  the  scales  and 
weights  of  polished  yellow  brass ;  there  are  gener- 
ally one  or  two  panel-mirrors,  very  effective.  The 
razor-keenness  of  the  long  bright  knives  ;  the  clear 
red  and  white  of  the  "  cuts,"  and  of  the  complex- 
ions of  the  female  attendants  ;  the  piquant  odor  of 
the  smoke-cured  flesh,  would  give  a  Brahman  an 


STONE   AND   PLASTER..  225 

appetite.  Raw  meat  is  not  a  pleasant  sight  except 
to  butchers  and  medical  students ;  but  when  re- 
fined by  the  education  of  salt  and  smoke,  it  be- 
comes highly  companionable.  Of  the  merits  of 
sausage,  it  would  perhaps  be  rash  in  a  foreigner 
to  speak ;  every  nation  has  its  pet  peculiarity, 
which  no  outsider  can  criticise  without  offence. 
Nothing  is  more  peculiarly  national  than  the  Ger- 
man sausage,  and  perhaps  the  very  quality  which 
so  endears  it  to  Germans,  renders  it  hard  of  com- 
prehension by  the  barbaric  mind.  The  Coat-of- 
Arms  of  Dresden  has  been  flippantly  described  as 
bearing  a  sausage  in  its  pocket,  with  the  motto, 
"Es  ist  mir  Wurst."  The  people  certainly  have  a 
way  of  carrying  sausage  about  with  them  in  their 
pockets  —  not  always  in  their  coat-pockets,  either 
—  and  pulling  it  out  to  gnaw  upon  it,  in  moments 
of  abstraction  or  ennui  ,\  and  if  a  barbarian  ex- 
presses annoyance  at  the  spectacle,  they  shrug  their 
shoulders  scornfully  and  ejaculate,  "  Es  ist  mir 
Wurst !  "  But  the  phrase  is  of  very  various  ap- 
plication, and  like  the  American  formula,  "  It  don't 
pay,"  is  noteworthy  only  as  indicating  the  bed  of 
the  popular  current  of  thought. 

There  are  two  or  three  furniture  shops  about 
town,  containing  plenty  of  pretty  furniture  im- 
ported from  Berlin,  and  made  chiefly  after  French 

15 


226  SAXON   STUDIES. 

designs.  But  in  spite  of  its  prettiness,  there  is 
nothing  sincere  or  satisfactory  in  the  making  of  it. 
The  chairs  and  sofas  are  never  comfortable ;  the 
tables,  sideboards,  and  cabinets  are  never  solid, 
though  always  warranted  to  be  so.  A  superficial 

0 

acquaintance  with  such  furniture  predisposes  us  in 
its  favor ;  but  ripening  familiarity  breeds  contempt. 
Our  fine  friends  wear  out ;  their  gay  feathers  orna- 
ment nothing  substantial ;  they  are  loose  in  the 
joints  and  warped  in  the  back.  In  the  day  of 
auction  they  are  found  wanting.  On^  the  whole, 
I  think  this  Dresden  or  Berlin  furniture  is  the 
most  worthless  that  is  anywhere  manufactured. 
Compared  with  the  massive  and  rich  simplicity  of 
the  best  American  furniture,  it  shows  like  a  charla- 
tan beside  a  gentleman  ;  nor  is  its  case  much  bet- 
tered by  contrast  with  English  work.  A  Saxon 
feels  none  of  the  pleasure  which  we  feel  in  know- 
ing that  what  pretends  to  be  ebony,  or  mahogany, 
or  cloth  of  gold,  is  such,  to  the  backbone.  A  solid 
mahogany  dining-table  would  take  away  his  appetite 
as  often  as  he  sat  down  to  dinner.  It  is  a  fine 
show  from  cheap  materials  that  yields  him  most 
unmixed  satisfaction ;  and  so  the  Saxons  are  happy 
in  their  furniture.  What  I  have  said  is  in  refer- 
ence only  to  the  best  and  most  expensive  uphol- 
stery, such  as  adorns  the  villas  on  the  Biirgerwiese. 


STONE   AND    PLASTER.  227 

The  ordinary  houses  are  fitted  .up  with  a  kind  of 
goods  which  is,  perhaps,  preferable  ;  for  though  to 
the  full  as  badly  made  as  the  fine  sort,  it  does  not 
so  belie  itself  by  any  attempt  at  outward  embel- 
lishment. 

Some  people  see  a  charm  in  old  curiosity-shops, 
but  they  remind  me  of  the  artfully  constructed 
cripples  and  sufferers  from  painted  ulcers,  whose 
simulated  woe  is  often  obtruded  upon  innocent 
travellers.  It  is  conceivable  that  a  vast  deal  of 
antiquated  trash  should  exist,  which  its  owners 
would  gladly  be  rid  of ;  but  that  age  and  worth- 
lessness  should  enhance  value  is  a  circumstance  re- 
quiring explanation.  I  never  saw  a  beautiful  thing 
in  a  Dresden  curiosity-shop,  and  I  think  the  sweep- 
ings of  two  or  three  old-fashioned  attics  would 
outshine  and  outvalue  the  richest  of  them.  They 
are  hidden  artfully  away  in  gloomy  alleys  and 
back  streets ;  their  windows  are  dusty,  their  ceil- 
ings stained,  their  floors  creaky,  their  corners  dark  ; 
their  rubbish  is  heaped  disorderly  together,  with  a 
coarse  attempt  at  dramatic  effect.  The  'dealer  is 
dressed  in  a  correspondingly  shabby  costume,  and 
cultivates  an  aspect  of  dishevelled  squalor.  I  should 
suppose  that  the  business  largely  depends  for  suc- 
cess upon  the  philosophic  principle  of  the  grab-bag 
at  fairs.  In  such  a  mass  of  plunder  we  cannot 


228  SAXON   STUDIES. 

help  believing  in  a  leaven,  however  small,  of  some- 
thing really  valuable  ;  some  pearl  of  price  which, 
by  advantage  of  the  dealer's  ignorance,  we  may 
obtain  for  next  to  nothing.  But  the  real  lay  of 
the  land  is  quite  otherwise.  Instead  of  buying  in- 
valuable things  cheap,  we  purchase  valueless  things 
dear  ;  and  as  to  the  dealer's  ignorance  —  what,  in 
the  line  of  his  business,  he  does  not  know,  is  decid- 
edly not  worth  knowing.  The  tribe  is  not  peculiar 
to  Dresden ;  wherever  are  travelled  flies,  there 
likewise  spin  their  webs  these  curious  old  spiders. 


STONE  AND   PLASTER.  229 


VI. 

BUT  let  us  rise  above  shops  and  shopkeepers 
and  see  life  upon  the  first  e*tage,  where  dwell  the 
rich  foreigners  and  the  German  princes.  The  stair- 
case which  helps  us  thither  is  probably  very  dark, 
and  darker  still  the  passage  to  which  the  inner 
house  door  admits  us.  An  artistic  stratagem  may 
be  intended  by  this  ;  for,  indeed,  that  were  a  poor 
parlor  which  looked  not  well  after  so  dusky,  not 
to  say  evil-smelling  an  entrance-way.  Evil-smelling 
or  not,  we  must  pause  to  be  delivered  of -an  ob- 
servation before  opening  the  parlor  door.  In  the 
Anglo-Saxon  mind  an  entry  is  associated  with  the 
idea  of  a  staircase ;  without  which  it  seems  an 
anomaly,  and  we  wonder  how  it  manages  to  dis- 
pose of  itself.  In  fact,  it  sprawls  about  in  an  un- 
braced, vacant-minded  manner,  with  its  doors  all 
on  one  side,  and  half-strangled  by  two  or  three 
great  wardrobes,  which  also  endanger  the  heads 
and  knees  of  the  unwary.  This  lack  of  stairs 
makes  itself  felt  throughout  the  house,  which  is 
comparable  to  a  face  without  a  nose  or  a  land 


230  SAXON   STUDIES. 

without  a  mountain.  It  is  insipid.  Our  houses 
are  rooms  grouped  round  a  staircase,  and  thus  gain 
a  flavor  and  character  which  distinguish  them  in 
the  imagination.  The  different  floors,  each  with 
its  separate  sphere  in  the  household  economy,  are 
ordered  as  naturally  as  are  the  organs  in  the  hit- 
man body.  But  no  stairs  implies  a  serious  de- 
ficiency of  moral  stimulus.  Moreover,  we  are  em- 
barrassed by  the  loss  of  handles  to  an  extensive 
family  of  remarks.  "  Go  down-stairs,"  "  Run  up- 
stairs," "  Come  down  to  breakfast,"  "  The  baby  is 
on  the  stairs  !  "  —  these  and  many  more  such  ex- 
pressions must  be  simply  dropped  out  of  existence. 
It  is  startling,  too,  to  reflect  that  the  kitchen 
stands  as  high  as  the  parlor,  and  that  the  parlor 
is  no  less  out  of  the  way  than  the  bedchamber. 
We  can  roll  a  marble  back  and  forth  from  one  end 
of  the  house  to  the  other. 

Meantime  we  will  open  the  parlor  door.  Like 
all  German  doors,  it  opens  in  the  middle,  the  left 
half  being  usually  bolted  to  the  floor,  and  only  the 
right  opened  and  shut.  There  are  several  advan- 
tages over  our  system  in  this  arrangement.  The 
doors  are  less  obtrusive.  They  open  with  only 
half  as  much  of  a  sweep  and  a  flourish,  and  stand 
ajar  without  standing  in  the  way.  They  are  the 
next  best  things  to  curtains  ;  for  interior  doors  are 


STONE   AND    PLASTER.  231 

all  more  or  less  a  relic  of  barbarism,  and  latches 
and  locks  delay  the  entrance  of  the  millennium. 
Heaven  has  its  gates,  it  is  true,  but  those  once 
passed,  we  shall  find  none  in  the  heavenly  man- 
sions: whereas  Hell  is  doubtless  as  full  of  bolted 
doors  as  of  burglars. 

Dresden  doors,  to  tell  the  truth,  are  almost  too 
yielding  for  this  sinful  age.  They  have  a  strong 
bent  towards  warping.  The  bolts  will  not  shoot, 
nor  the.  latches  catch,  and  the  door  is  constantly 
springing  open  in  a  generous,  free-hearted  way,  as 
much  as  to  exclaim,  "  Look  through  me,  every- 
body !  I  have  nothing  to  conceal ! "  In  Heaven, 
in  summer,  or  in  solitude,  this  vivacity  is  a  charm- 
ing trait,  but  at  other  times.it  may  be  annoying. 
It  is  partly  compensated  by  the  crevice  underneath 
the  door  being  ordinarily  so  wide  that  letters  and 
newspapers,  and  even  slender  volumes,  sometimes, 
may  be  slipped  through  without  disturbing  the 
hardly-won  attachment  of  the  latch.  But  in  the 
common  event  of  a  sudden  gust  of  wind,  all  the 
doors  in  the  house  jump  open  at  once,  as  though 
a  dozen  ghostly  intruders  had  forced  a  preconcerted 
entrance.  The  latches,  by  the  way,  turn  by  han- 
dles instead  of  round  knobs ;  a  trifle,  but  one  of 
those  which  lend  a  foreign  flavor. 

The  latch  gives  way,  then,  and   behold   the  par- 


232  •  SAXON   STUDIES. 

lor !  There  is  a  tall,  square,  white  stove  —  a  per- 
manent feature  in  all  the  rooms  —  drawn  up  in 
one  corner  like  the  ghost  of  a  family  chimney.  In 
the  adjoining  angle  the  centre-table  is  pinning  the 
stiff-backed  sofa  against  the  wall,  and  four  rungless 
chairs  are  solemnly  watching  the  operation.  There 
are  flower-stands  in  the  slimly-curtained  windows, 
and  the  pallid  walls  are  enriched  with  half  a  dozen 
lithographic  portraits  of  the  Royal  Family,  and  a 
large  engraving  of  Schiller  at  Weimar.  In  another 
place  there  is  an  eruption  of  small,  round,  black- 
rimmed  daguerreotypes  and  photographs  of  dead  or 
departed  relatives  —  a  singularly  unattractive  col- 
lection. Neither  these  nor  the  larger  pictures  are 
hung ;  they  have  apparently  broken  out  of  the 
wall  in  consequence  of  the  diseased  condition  of 
the  house,  and  the  breaking-out  has  not  taken 
place  in  an  even  or  orderly  manner ;  the  frames 
are  all  more  or  less  awry,  and  there  is  no  bal- 
ancing of  one  against  another.  Between  the  win- 
dows is  a  mirror  reaching  nearly  from  floor  to 
ceiling ;  but  instead  of  being  one  sheet  of  glass,  it 
consists  of  three  of  four  sections,  the  line  of  junc- 
tion generally  contriving  to  maintain  the  same 
level  as  our  line  of  sight.  The  floor  is  of  bare 
boards  painted  brownish  yellow  and  polished  ;  or, 
in  the  newer  houses,  it  is  parqueted,  and  waxed, 


STONE  AND   PLASTER.  .233 

so  that  it  reflects  the  ceiling,  and  is  perilous  to 
walk  on.  It  is  seldom  left  wholly  bare,  however, 
unless  in  the  heat  of  summer ;  the  expanse  is 
tempered  with  rugs,  a  large  one  beneath  the  ta- 
ble, and  smaller  satellites  in  various  parts  of  the 
room.  The  banishment  of  full-grown  carpets  is 
by  no  means  an  unmitigated  blunder.  The  pol- 
ished floor  communicates  a  sort  of  dignity  to  the 
legs  of  the  chairs  and  tables,  and  puts  us  in  mind 
of  French  genre  pictures.  If  there  is  dirt  any- 
where, it  is  immediately  visible ;  and  the  rugs  can 
be  thrashed  every  day  without  disordering  any- 
thing. In  winter  a  fox  or  bear-skin  remedies 
the  coldness  of  bare  boards  which  summer  renders 
a  luxury.  Our  partiality  for  Aubussons,  fitting 
snug  to  the  wainscot,  is  perhaps  a  prejudice  ;  there 
may  be  no  more  reason  for  them  than  for  tapes- 
try. Nevertheless,  the  foot  naturally  loves  to  be 
pressed  on  softness,  and  requires  artificial  training 
to  walk  on  slipperiness.  Turf  is  a  good  precedent 
for  carpets,  and  in  discarding  them  we  lose  in 
home-comfort  what  we  gain  in  hygiene  and  ele- 
gance. 

The  windows  open  on  hinges  in  the  same  man- 
ner as  the  doors.  It  is  a  pleasant,  antique  fashion  : 
this  is  the  kind  of  casements  from  which  the  ladies 
of  the  Middle  Ages  were  wont  to  converse  with 


234'  SAXON   STUDIES. 

their  lovers.  They  could  never  have  pushed  up 
our  modern  window,  with  its  uneven  grooves  and 
rough-running  cords,  nor  eloped  through  it  with 
any  grace  and  dignity.  Moreover,  nothing  is  less 
picturesque  than  an  open  window  of  the  modern 
style ;  whereas  the  old  -casement,  standing  ajar, 
forms  a  picture  by  itself.  In  winter  a  supplemen- 
tary window  is  fitted  outside  the  original  one,  with 
the  good  effect  of  excluding  noise  as  well  as  cold 
air.  When  the  north  winds  blow  these  exterior 
fixtures  are  severely  shaken,  and  from  street  to 

street,   as   the   gale  rises,    we    hear    the    slamming 

i 
together  of  loose  sashes,  there  being  a  fine  for  any 

window  left  open  during  a  storm.  A  praiseworthy 
regulation,  since  if  the  glass  be  broken  and  fall 
into  the  street  it  is  liable  to  shear  off  people  s  fin- 
gers and  noses ;  and  a  couple  of  years  ago,  as  a 
man  was  pointing  out  to  another  the  road  to  the 
railway-station,  he  suddenly  found  himself  without 
his  hand.  A  piece  of  window-pane  from  the  third 
story  of  a  neighboring  house  had  cleanly  ampu- 
tated it  at  the  wrist. 

It  is  the  mark  of  a  civilized  people  to  pay  even 
more  attention  to  their  bodily  comfort  at  night 
than  during  the  day.  Sleep  is  a  mystery  which  still 
awaits  explanation  ;  but  we  know  it  to  be  the 
condition  of  visions  which  sometimes  have  a  vital 


STONE   AND   PLASTER.  235 

influence  over  our  lives.  In  those  visions  the  veil 
of  the  free-will  is  drawn  aside,  and  our  naked,  un- 

r 

regenerate  self  stands  revealed  before  our  eyes. 
Pure,  upright,  and  moral  though  we  may  be,  in 
sleep  we  are  liable  to  commit  such  crimes  as  the 
very  Police  News  would  fear  to  illustrate. 

Surely,  then,  it  were  wise  to  make  ourselves  as 
comfortable  in  bed  as  possible,  for  physical  unease 
communicates  itself  to  the  spirit,  and  a  cramped 
position  of  the  legs  increases  the  activity  within  us 
of  original  sin.  It  is  nearly  a  miracle,  from  this 
point  of  view,  that  all  Germany  is  not  given  over 
to  the  Evil  One.  If  £heir  beds  were  a  third  part 
so  comfortable  as  an  ordinary  coffin,  there  would 
be  comparatively  no  ground  for  complaint.  But 
the  coffin  is  better  in  every  respect,  and  a  dead 
Saxon  sleeps  vastly  easier  than  a  live  ^ne.  Were 
men  like  jack-knives,  they  might  contrive  to  fit  six 
feet  of  stature  into  four,  feet  of  bedroom  ;  and  per- 
haps, to  lie  unmoved  beneath  an  overgrown  feather 
pillow,  which  combines  in  itself  the  functions  of 
sheet,  blanket,  and  counterpane.  It  is  impondera- 
ble —  that  pillow  ;  a  sort  of  a  ghost  of  a  mattress, 
but  so  hot  as  to  suggest  anything  but  a  celestial 
origin.  What  are  we  to  think  of  a  people  who 
put  up  with  this  sort  of  thing  from  year's  end  to 
year's  end  ?  Can  we  expect  from  them  gentleness 


236  SAXON  STUDIES. 

and  refinement  —  an  appreciation  of  fine  shadings 
—  a  discriminating  touch  ?  Can  such  a  people  be 
supposed  capable  of  distinguishing  between  lying 
and  discretion,  between  science  aiid  quackery,  be- 
tween philosophy  and  charlatanry,  between  war  and 
brutality,  or  even  between  statesmanship  and  bul- 
lying ?  They  cannot  tell  why  respect  is  due  to 
women :  they  are  a  mingling  of  the  animal  with  the 
machine ;  and  I  believe  the  Survival-of-the-fittest 
Law  to  be  a  libel  on  their  Gothic  ancestry. 

So  we  merely  pass  through  the  bedroom  —  the 
most  desolate  and  cheerless  spot  in  the  house  — 
and  are  glad  to  find  ourselves  in  the  passage-way 
once  more.  The  kitchen  door  is  ajar,  and  we  may 
look  in  if  we  like  ;  though,  except  the  white  china 
range,  there  is  nothing  there  describably  novel. 
An  English  cook  might  find  some  difficulty  in 
broiling  a  steak ;  but  the  arrangements  are  well 
suited  to  Saxon  needs.  To  be  a  thorough  Ger- 
man cook  requires  only  a  callous  conscience,  a  cold 
heart,  a  confused  head,  coarse  hands  and  plenty  of 
grease.  If,  therefore,  the  other  arts  and  sciences 
should  ever  pall  upon  them,  one  half  the  nation 
might  very  successfully  cater  to  the  palates  of  the 
other  half.  Some  of  the  hotels  have  French  cooks, 
or  German  cooks  French-trained :  but  the  people 
accept  them  as  they  accept  knives  and  forks  to  eat 


STONE  AND   PLASTER.  237 

with ;   not  because    they  appreciate    them,  but   be- 
cause they  are  the  fashion. 

The  best  virtue  of  these  Stages  shows  itself  when 
they  are  thrown  open  for  a  ball.  The  long  suite 
of  rooms,  merging  vista-like  into  one  another,  ap- 
pears palatial.  The  smooth  floors  seem  made  to 
dance  upon.  The  only  dissatisfied  people  are  those 
who  live  on  the  etage  below  ;  and  even  they  may 
be  conciliated  by  an  invitation.  The  Saxons  are 
much  given  to  dancing,  and  may  possibly  have 
built  their  houses  so  as  best  to  indulge  their  incli- 
nation. It  seems  a  barren  use  to  put  a  home  to, 
but  on  the  other  hand,  it  is  no  bad  expedient  for 
disguising  the  ugly  fact  of  Saxon  homelessness. 


238  SAXON   STUDIES. 


VII. 

THERE  are  certain  features  of  the  Saxon  house- 
hold, upon  which  I  have  no  disposition  to  enlarge, 
and  which  I  shall  pass  by  in  silence.  Special  dis- 
eases should  be  left  to  the  treatment  of  special 
physicians,  and  let  us  trust  that,  in  the  progress  of 
the  water-cure  and  of  the  sense  of  decency  they 
may  be  alleviated.  Meanwhile  we  must  pass 
through  the  second  and  third  etages,  which  are 
poor  relations  of  the  first,  with  nothing  original 
about  them,  —  and  take  our  final  observations  in 
the  attic. 

Unquestionably  this  is  the  most  attractive  part 
of  the  house,  whether  viewed  from  without  or  from 
within.  The  very  inconveniences  are  an  entice- 
ment. Here  we  are  next-door  neighbors  to  the 
clouds ;  and  if  we  look  down  from  our  dormer- 
window  to  the  street,  —  we  may  be  so  straightened 
as  scarcely  to  be  able  to  pay  our  ten  pounds  of 
rent,  yet  cannot  we  repress  a  feeling  of  superi- 
ority to  those  absurd  little  people  crawling  to  and 
fro  beneath  us.  By  dint  of  our  commanding  out- 


STONE  AND   PLASTER.  239 

look,  we  become  to  a  certain  extent  prophets  of 
the  future.  We  can  see  the  coming  event  while 
yet  it  is  afar,  and  can  predict  what  will  happen 
to  a  man  on  his  way  from  his  house  door  to  his 
office.  Prophecy  is  easy  if  only  our  views  of  life 
are  lofty  enough ;  and  its  exercise  creates  an  agree- 
able glow  of  power.  What  can  be  more  pleasing 
than  to  watch  two  persons  running  along  two  sides 
of  a  corner,  and  to  foresee  what  they  cannot  — 
that  there  will  be  a  collision  at  the  apex  ?  Cour- 
age is  easy,  too,  and  charity  ;  and  in  general  our 
moral  and  intellectual  capacity  is  indefinitely  en- 
larged. We  appropriate  the  stature  of  the  build- 
ing, and  become  giants  sixty  or  seventy  feet  high, 
able  to  straddle  the  Alt-Markt  and  vault  the  Ca- 
thedral. We  perceive  the  littleness  and  the  vanity 
of  man  —  the  not-our-selves  which  eternally  makes 
for  gain.  We  are  broadly  critical,  and  marvel  at 
the  narrow-mindedness  of  people  who  cannot  see 
through  stone  walls,  nor  five  minutes  ahead.  We 
smile  compassionately  at  yonder  stranger,  who  posi- 
tively cannot  find  his  way  to  the  American  Bank. 
But  shall  we,  in  descending  to  the  street,  descend 
likewise  to  the  level  of  intelligence  of  those  who 
walk  there  ?  Heaven  forbid !  Yet  if  so  it  be,  let 
us  henceforward  forswear  the  staircase,  and  make 
our  promenades  over  the  roof-tops,  with  only  the 


240  SAXON   STUDIES. 

crows,  the  cats,  and  the  chimney-sweeps  for  com- 
pany. 

I  must  assume  that  everybody  has  felt  the  fas- 
cination of  an  attic,  for  it  is  beyond  my  skill  to 
reproduce  it.  It  depends  in  great  measure  upon 
the  refreshing  unconventionality  of  the  ceilings, 
which  do  not  hesitate  to  make  advances  to  the 
walls,  and  sometimes  stoop  to  acquaintance  even 
with  the  floors.  These  eccentricities  are  a  death- 
blow to  the  maintenance  of  any  down-stairs  formal- 
ity and  stiffness  ;  we  must  be  free,  good-humored, 
and  accommodating  hi  our  behavior,  nor  hold  our 
heads  too  erect,  lest  they  catch  a  rap  from  the 
rafters.  It  is  strange  how  soon  this  sort  of  re- 
straint and  inconvenience  impresses  itself  upon  our 
affections  ;  perhaps  on  the  same  principle  that  we 
are  said  to  love  best  those  who  make  the  greatest 
demands  upon  us.  The  place  is  full  of  makeshifts 
and  compromises,  which  may  be  bad  things  hi  con- 
duct, but  in  housekeeping  are  delightful.  The 
mind  and  character,  being  met  by  constraints  upon 
all  sides,  leave  their  counter-impression  in  the 
more  unmistakable  colors.  The  room  grows  human 
a  hundred  times  faster  than  if  it  were  square  and 
ten  feet  high. 

Moreover,  attic-life  is  so  condensed,  that  it  must 
needs  appear  rich  and  idiomatic.  And  it  is  origi- 


STONE  AND  PLASTER.  241 

nal  because  it  is  poor,  and  poverty  cannot  afford 
to  be  in  the  fashion.  Poets  are  fabled  to  live  in 
attics,  because  they  cannot  pay  for  grander  lodg- 
ings ;  but  I  suspect  there  are  better  reasons  for 
it;  and  certainly  we  often  have  cause  to  regret 
their  better  fortune  ;  for  the  songs  they  sing  on 
the  Bel-etage  are  seldom  so  sweet  and  pure  as 
those  that  sounded  above  the  eaves,  though  doubt- 
less far  more  ornate,  ponderous,  and  regularly  pro- 
portioned. 

These  Dresden  attics  are  a  city  by  themselves, 
and  doubtless  there  is  a  kind  of  Freemasonry  be- 
tween the  inhabitants.  There  are  often  two  or 
three  stories  above  the  eaves,  and  it  would  hardly 
be  too  much  to  say  that  half  the  city  population 
have  their  homes  there.  If  the  rich  people  knew 
what  was  to  their  advantage,  they  would  gladly 
exchange  lodgings  with  these  Arabs  of  the  roof. 
It  is  the  roofs  that  redeem  the  houses  from  the 
charge  of  nothingness.  They  are  the  nonconform- 
ists, rich  in  individuality  and  warm  in  color,  un- 
even as  a  tarpaulin  flung  over  a  pile  of  luggage, 
rambling,  sloping,  cornered,  full  of  lights  and  shad- 
ows. The  dormer-windows  are  of  inexhaustible  in- 
terest, jutting  out  of  the  mother-roof  like  baby 
houses  taking  a  first  look  at  the  world.  Doves 
roost  on  the  little  gable,  and  occasionally  perch 

16 


242  SAXON   STUDIES. 

among  the  flower-pots  on  the  window-sill.  Now 
comes  a  young  girl,  to  water  the  plants  and  com- 
plete the  picture — one  which  Hendschel's  pencil 
has  inimitably  drawn.  She  pauses  a  moment  to 
watch,  with  a  half -smile,  the  courtship  of  two 
pigeons  on  the  eaves-pipe  ;  a  blush  gradually  steals 
over  her  lovely  face,  for  that  canary,  warbling  in 
its  little  wooden  cage  at  her  ear,  is  perhaps  re- 
minding her  of  a  certain  maiden  love-passage  of 
her  own  last  evening,  when  her  sweet  lips  made 
some  lucky  fellow  the  happiest  man  in  the  world. 
How  tenderly  the  morning  sunshine  brightens  on 
her  fair  hair  and  virginal  figure  !  How  lovingly 
that  green  vine  droops  over  head,  and  how  rich  is 
the  perfume  of  that  verbena  ! 

I  should  not  have  ventured  upon  this  outburst, 
had  it  not  been  for  that  sketch  of  Hendschel's, 
which  stood  before  me  as  I  wrote.  The  responsi- 
bility is  his ;  I  should  never  dare  create  such  a  face 
as  that  and  call  it  German.  Being  ready-created, 
however,  I  am  well  content  to  believe  it  true, 
though  the  women  I  have  seen  in  dormer-windows 
were  invariably  homely,  and  engaged  in  no  more 
poetic  occupation  than  sewing,  or  hanging  out 
clothes,  or  screaming  something  to  their  gossip  in 
the  gable  opposite.  On  rare  occasions  I  have  seen 
a  cat  steal  along  the  tiles,  harassed,  meagre,  with 


STONE   AND   PLASTER.  243 

painfully  suspicious  eye,  pausing  ever  and  anon  to 
peer  and  snuff  and  wave  its  tail.  I  suppose  she 
was  sparrow-hunting  ;  but  cats  are  the  very  scarcest 
wild-fowl  in  Dresden.  They  are  an  exponent  of 
another  kind  of  civilization  than  any  which  Saxons 
will  attain.  They  are  pariahs  among  this  people 
—  no  one  sympathizes  with  them  or  understands 
them.  The  dogs  have  ousted  them  perhaps ;  and 
certainly  there  is  more  of  the  cur  than  of  the  cat 
in  the  Saxon  character. 

Dormer-windows  exist  in  other  places  besides  Sax- 
ony, but  the  eye-windows  are,  so  far  as  I  know,  a 
peculiarly  German  institution.  It  shows  a  grotesque 
kind  of  humor  to  invent  such  things.  They  are 
single  panes,  about  a  foot  square,  standing  upright 
in  the  body  of  the  roof,  which  curves  over  them 
like  a  sleepy  eyelid,  and  broadens  like  a  fat  cheek 
below.  The  life-likeness  is  often  enhanced  by  vari- 
ous ingenious  additions  ;  and  a  couple  of  such  win- 
dows, with  a  chimney  between,  give  the  house  a 
curiously  human  aspect.  The  effect  is  not  carried 
out  in  the  body  of  the  building ;  but,  in  fact,  all 
the  vitality  of  the  house  is  concentrated  in  the  top 
part  of  it,  as  if  it  rose  up  from  below,  like  oxy- 
gen bubbles,  and  collected  beneath  the  roof.  The 
basement  is  torpid,  the  middle  floors  are  stiff  and 
taciturn,  but  the  attics  draw  the  very  breath  of 
life. 


244  SAXON   STUDIES. 


VIII. 

THERE  is  a  class  of  citizens  in  Dresden  whose 
home  is  even  higher  than  the  attics ;  who  dispute 
the  ridge-pole  with  the  crows,  the  pigeons,  and  the 
cats ;  but  who,  though  occupying  the  most  elevated 
position  in  the  city,  above  even  the  heads  of  the 
King  and  his  council,  are  outdone  by  none  in  hum- 
bleness of  demeanor,  and  sadness  of  attire.  They 
are  clothed  from  head  to  foot  in  jetty  black ;  and, 
as  though  this  were  not  enough,  they  smear  their 
countenances  with  an  application  of  the  same  joyless 
hue.  Barefooted  are  they,  and  walk  the  streets, 
when  they  descend  thither,  with  folded  arms  and 
downcast  eyes,  as  if  their  very  glance,  not  to  men- 
tion their  touch,  might  chance  to  soil  the  immacu- 
lateness  of  somebody's  shirt-bosom.  Nevertheless 
their  complete  blackness  gives  a  strange  force  to 
their  appearance  —  a  condensation  of  meaning,  so 
to  speak,  of  the  very  darkest  import.  They  are 
an  embodied  lesson  to  mankind.  People  of  one 
color  —  of  one  consistent  idea,  however  gloomy  — 
are  sure  to  be  more  remarked  in  the  world  than 
the  gayest  of  piebalds. 


STONE  AND  PLASTER.  245 

This  singular  tribe  never  appears  to  have  any 
interests  or  sympathies  in  common  with  humanity. 
Never  are  they  seen  conversing  with  a  friend ;  and 
as  to  sweethearts  and  wives  —  good  heavens!  the 
thing  is  inconceivable.  A  species  of  awe  invests 
them ;  in  the  most  turbulent  crowd  their  persons 
would  be  respected,  and  a  pathway  would  be 
cleared  for  them  whithersoever  they  might  choose 
to  pursue  it.  But  they  are  seldom  seen  on  earth: 
their  abode  is  in  the  upper  air.  In  the  early 
morning,  when  most  men  are  asleep,  we  may  see 
their  lonely  figures  far  aloft,  silhouetted  against  the 
pale  tints  of  the  sky,  and  gilded  perchance  by  the 
first  rays  of  the  day's  sunshine.  What  are  they 
doing  there  at  such  an  hour?  Are  they  priests  of 
an  unknown  religion,  bound  by  dark  vows  to  this 
sable  garb  and  these  mysterious  rites?  Mark  yon- 
der crazy  anchorite — with  what  weird  agility  he 
clambers  to  the  top  of  that  tall  chimney,  and 
stands  with  the  sleeping  city  at  his  feet,  himself 
the  blackest  object  in  it  —  a  blot  against  the  pure 
heavens.  Does  he  not  look  rather  like  the  Devil, 
setting  his  foot  upon  the  conquered  world  ?  Can 
it  be  that,  under  the  impression  that  they  are 
merely  a  useful  and  harmless,  albeit  personally  un- 
prepossessing order  of  the  community,  mankind  may 
have  been  harboring  in  its  midst  a  deputation  from 
the  kingdom  of  darkness  ? 


246  SAXON   STUDIES. 

Let  us  observe  that  creature  on  the  chimney. 
He  seems  to  have  a  rope  coiled  round  his  arm ; 
now  he  unwinds  it,  and  lets  it  slip  rapidly  down 
the  chimney's  throat,  till  it  must  have  reached  the 
house's  deepest  entrails.  Is  there  anything  below 
which  he  wants  to  catch?  See  how  he  jerks  the 
rope  up  and  down,  and  how  curiously  he  peers 
into  the  sooty  hole.  His  motions  remind  us  viv- 
idly of  a  fisherman  bobbing  for  eels.  Is  this  the 
devil,  bobbing  for  a  human  soul?  What  bait  does 
he  use  ?  —  not  worms,  surely :  more  probably  it  is 
a  deed  of  mortgage ;  or,  perhaps,  the  good  name 
of  a  young  woman.  Ah !  was  not  that  a  bite  ? 
yes,  he  has  caught  it  at  last  —  whatever  it  is ;  and 
mercy  on  us !  with  what  an  ugly  eagerness  does 
he  haul  his  booty  up.  If  only  it  would  come  un- 
hooked ;  after  the  experience  of  this  one  mortal  peril, 
the  poor  house  might  have  a  chance  to  be  wiser  for 
the  future !  but  that  is  not  to  be :  the  black  fisher- 
man is  even  now  stooping  to  grasp  his  prey.  Let  us 
veil  our  eyes  from  the  ghastly  spectacle  of  its  last 
struggles.  Heaven  grant  that  ugly  hook  never  come 
dangling  down  into  our  own  fireside  circle  ! 

Nay,  but  this  gloomy  fantasy  is  unworthy  our 
common  sense ;  in  fact,  it  was  only  the  last  traces 
of  a  nightmare,  from  which,  at  this  early  hour,  our 
brain  had  not  entirely  freed  itself.  Yonder  is  no 


STONE  AND  PLASTER.  247 

devil,  but,  as  we  read  him  now,  some  eccentric 
misanthrope,  who  vents  his  spite  against  the  race 
by  plucking  defilement  from  the  very  flame  which 
makes  the  household  hearth  bright  —  or  would  do 
so,  were  there  no  china  stove  in  the  way.  He 
likewise  finds  a  pleasure  in  making  himself  hide- 
ous with  the  soot  from  other  people's  chimneys, 
and  thus  rendering  his  aspect  a  perpetual  silent 
reminder  to  them  of  their  inward  depravity.  He 
takes  a  grim  delight  in  their  avoidance  of  him  — 
he  smiles  to  see  them  recoil  from  the  contact  of 
his  garments ;  a  little  introspection,  he  thinks, 
would  reveal  to  them  a  blackness  more  foul  than 
that  which  disfigures  him.  He  may  be  black- 
hearted, too,  —  he  does  not  deny  it ;  but  at  all 
events  he  hesitates  not  to  conform  the  external  to 
the  interior  man.  Nobody  can  call  him  an  hypo- 
crite. He  is  proud  of  his  sooty  brow,  and  shares 
the  Indian's  contempt  for  the  Pale-face. 

Have  we  reached  the  deepest  solution  of  the 
problem  even  now?  May  not  this  questionable 
shape  be  a  secret  benefactor  of  his  species?  Is 
he  not  a  philanthropist  of  such  large  charity  that 
he  is  willing  to  be  loathsome  in  men's  sight  for 
the  sake  of  relieving  them  of  the  results  of  their 
misdeeds ;  willing  to  sacrifice  his  own  good  name 
and  social  advantages  in  the  attempt  to  clear  a 


248  SAXON   STUDIES. 

passage  of  communication  between  his  brethren's 
homes  and  heaven  ?  True,  he  would,  in  this  case, 
like  other  philanthropists,  lay  himself  open  to  mis- 
construction, if  not  to  ridicule  ;  for  persons  who 
take  advantage  of  chimneys  to  seek  the  sky,  are 
commonly  looked  upon  as  anything  but  proper  ob- 
jects of  benevolence.  Nevertheless,  if  our  sooty 
friend  be  neither  philanthropist,  misanthropist,  nor 
devil,  what,  in  the  name  of  common  sense,  is  he  ? 
Well,  —  but  it  is  not  every  man  who  can  be  mis- 
taken even  for  these  things ;  and  should  he,  at  last, 
turn  out  to  be  nothing  better  than  a  chimney- 
sweep, he  may  justly  console  himself  with  that  re- 
flection. 


DRESDEN   DIVERSIONS. 


CHAPTER  V. 

DRESDEN  DIVERSIONS. 
I. 

WE  can  judge  better  of  a  child's  character  from 
seeing  it  at  play  than  at  work ;  and  so  of  men  and 
nations.  The  Saxons  have  a  marked  inclination  to 
amusements ;  they  play  like  children,  with  an  ab- 
sence of  stiffness  and  self-consciousness  which  might 
surprise  those  who  had  been  used  to  regard  them 
only  as  philosophers.  But  a  shrewder  consideration 
will  probably  discover  in  this  seeming  anomaly  but 
another  evidence  of  the  profundity  of  Saxon  wis- 
dom. It  takes  more  good  sense  than  most  people 
possess,  properly  to  alternate  study  with  diver- 
sion. 

The  famous  picture-gallery  is  open  every  day  in 
the  week,  in  a  featureless  stone  building  one  sixth 
of  a  mile  in  length,  and  two  stories  high,  with  an 
elaborate  archway  through  the  centre.  To  and  fro 
beneath  the  archway  pace  forever  a  bayoneted  rifle 
and  a  spiked  helmet ;  the  bas-relief  of  Mars  on 
the  base  of  the  arch  is  not  more  constant  in  its 


252  SAXON   STUDIES. 

place.  An  inner  door  to  the  right  admits  us  to 
the  entrance-hall  and  staircase,  where  we  are  met 
by  a  gold-laced  cocked  hat  and  silver-headed  mace, 
and  bidden  to  exchange  our  walking  stick  or  um- 
brella for  a  bit  of  brass  with  a  number  stamped 
upon  it.  Should  we  chance  to  drop  this  on  the 
marble  floor,  the  sound  reechoes  as  if  we  had  let 
fall  a  brazen  buckler.  It  is  curious  what  an  em- 
barrassing responsibility  we  feel  for  our  actions, 
when  each  one  bears  its  echo.  It  puts  me  in 
mind  of  those  stories  of  scientific  marvel-mongers, 
who  would  paralyze  us  by  the  assertion  that  the 
stamp  of  a  foot  permanently  displaces  the  whole 
stellar  universe.  I  always  feel  oppressed  in  an' 
echoing  apartment ;  and  if  I  thought  much  about 
the  stellar  universe,  I  should  end  either  by  crush- 
ing it,  or  letting  it  crush  me. 

Arrived  at  the  staircase  top,  we  push  against 
a  stiff-moving  door,  and  find  ourselves  in  an  ante- 
room ;  one  wall  is  covered  with  a  huge,  hideous 
picture  of  a  Court  —  ladies  and  gentlemen  in 
seventeenth  century  costume,  and,  down  in  the 
right-hand  corner,  a  little  corkscrew-tailed  cur 
which  reminds  us  more  of  human  beings  than  any- 
thing else  upon  the  canvas.  The  only  other  ob- 
ject in  the  room  is  the  catalogue  stall,  with  its 
bald-headed  attendant,  who  is  not  only  a  cynic  but 


DRESDEN   DIVERSIONS.  253 

a  misanthrope.  Considering  that  he  passes  his  life 
face  to  face  with  that  Court  scene,  and  never  (to 
my  knowledge)  sells  a  catalogue,  I  am  only  sur- 
prised that  he  is  not  a  suicide  as  well. 

In  this  room  we  already  become  conscious  of  -the 
picture-gallery  smell  —  that  most  peculiar  and  de- 
pressing of  odors.  It  cannot  be  called  offensive  — 
still  less,  agreeable ;  but  it  produces  an  effect  of 
lassitude  and  apathy,  such  as  is  experienced  under 
no  other  circumstances.  It  is  an  aroma  of  old 
canvases ;  or  we  might  regard  it  as  the  ancient 
breath  expressed  from  the  oily  lungs  of  the  innu- 
merable old  portraits.  It  is  not  fit  food  for  living 
organisms ;  it  dulls  the  eye  and  pales  the  cheek, 
and  cuts  short  the  temper.  The  buff  beadles  who 
pervade  the  place  have  acquired  so  sour  and  sus- 
picious an  aspect,  that  it  is  hard  not  to  feel  guilty 
in  their  presence.  The  morbid  influence  is  en- 
hanced by  the  arrangement  of  the  rooms,  which 
is  such  as  to  give  the  idea  of  hopelessly  intermin- 
able extent ;  and  by  the  style  of  architecture, 
which  is  beyond  words  monotonous,  idealess,  soul- 
less, dry,  dispiriting,  unbeautiful.  Our  boot 
squeaks  and  slips  on  the  parqueted  floor,  and  there 
is  scarcely  one  chair  to  a  thousand  pictures.  And 
as  for  the  pictures  —  be  their  merits  how  great 
soever  —  they  are  still  the  most  tiresome  feature 
of  aU. 


254  SAXON   STUDIES. 

Why  are  picture-galleries  allowed  ?  The  best 
time  to  visit  the  Continental  ones  is  on  Sunday  — 
the  people's  day ;  for  then  we  may  find  relief  from 
the  rabble  on  the  walls  in  observing  the  rabble  on 
the  floor,  which  is  vastly  more  amusing  and  less 
impertinent.  The  latter  is  forever  on  the  move, 
and  still  forming  new  combinations ;  whereas  the 
former  varies  not  a  hair's  breadth  from  age  to  age, 
as  if  conceitedly  conscious  that  its  present  attitude 
must  be  the  very  best  imaginable.  Morever,  even 
admitting  each  one  of  a  hundred  thousand  pictures 
to  be  a  masterpiece  of  color,  form,  and  design,  the 
value  of  each  would  be  a  hundred  thousand  times 
less  than  if  it  stood  alone.  Picture-galleries  are 
the  greatest  sesthetic  abuses  of  our  time.  They  are 

that  saddest   chaos  which   is   formed    of  disordered 

\ 

beauty  —  like  an  insane  poet's  mind.  Why  has  no 
artistic  vigilance-committee  arisen  to  annihilate  this 
insult  to  good  taste  and  modesty  ? 

We  admire  the  intellectual  self-command  of  a 
Newton  ;  but  it  is  nothing  to  the  power  of  mental 
abstraction  necessary  to  the  appreciation  of  a  fine 
picture  on  the  walls  of  a  gallery.  In  fact,  real 
appreciation  is,  under  such  circumstances,  an  im- 
possibility. We  do  not  see  the  picture  which  the 
great  master  painted.  We  discern  only  a  certain 
arrangement  of  lines,  and  harmony  of  colors.  The 


DRESDEN   DIVERSIONS.  255 

painter  may  have  been  divine,  but  he  cannot  show 
us  his  most  precious  secrets  in  a  crowd.  On  the 
contrary,  the  more  subtle  and  profound  he  is,  the 
less  our  chance  of  apprehending  him.  It  is  not 
too  much  to  say  that  no  great  picture,  whether  in 
the  Dresden  gallery  or  another,  has  yet  been  seen 
by  mortal  eyes.  Good  copies  —  which,  to  be  good, 
must  be  a  slight  improvement  on  the  originals  — 
are  out  of  the  question  ;  and  therefore  these  paint- 
ings will  remain  a  dead  letter  until  the  time  comes 
for  mankind  not  only  to  acknowledge  commonplace 
truths,  but  to  do  them. 

Then  we  shall  see  picture-galleries  built  upon  a 
different  principle.  A  picture  that  is  worth  any- 
thing is  worth  the  devotion  of,  at  least,  one  room. 
Of  that  room  it  should  be  the  reason,  the  expres- 
sion, the  key,  the  consummation.  Everything  in 
the  room  should  lead  up  to  it,  comment  on  it, 
harmonize  with  it,  interpret  it,  reflect  it.  Without 
the  picture,  the  room  should  appear  like  a  man 
without  his  head  ;  and  the  imagination  should  be 
able  to  predict  the  precise  subject  and  tone  of  the 
painting  from  the  testimony  of  its  accessories. 

Upon  this  principle  shall  the  new  gallery  be 
planned  —  a  private  city  of  picture-homes,  each 
work  the  sole  occupant  of  its  own  apartments. 
Any  picture  not  worth  a  room  shall  be  burned  ; 


256  SAXON   STUDIES. 

and  of  the  remainder  (which  will  not  be  over 
large)  some  shall  be  housed  in  a  single  chamber, 
others  in  a  suite,  others  again  shall  have  a  palace 
built  expressly  for  them  —  according  to  their  re- 
spective merits.  No  person  shall  be  permitted  to 
visit  more  than  one  picture  in  one  day;  at  which 
rate  it  would  take  at  least  three  years  to  see.  a 
gallery  of  any  extent  ;  and  true  picture-lovers 
would  probably  confine  their  attentions  to  two  or 
three  favorites ;  spending  day  after  day  at  their 
houses,  not  always  gazing  on  the  very  canvas,  but 
musing  upon  the  fine  symbolism  of  the  surround- 
ings, and  leisurely  accumulating  fresh  power  to  see 
and  understand.  A  year  so  spent  would  be  cult- 
ure ;  but  what  shall  we  say  of  this  elbowing  and 
jostling  of  jaded  throngs  in  barren,  bare,  unfur- 
nished rooms  ?  What  shall  we  call  those  persons 
who  sit  for  five  minutes  before  the  Sistine  Ma- 
donna, and  then  comment,  in  strident  whispers, 
as  follows :  — 

"Sweet  pretty,  isn't  she?" 

"  Yes ;  but  she  looks  awfully  sunburnt,  don't 
you  think  so  ?  " 

"  What 's  that  green  curtain  for,  do  you  sup- 
pose ?  " 

A  laugh.  "  It 's  a  pity  they  put  in  that  horrid 
old  man  and  that  affected  girl." 


DRESDEN   DIVERSIONS.  257 

"  They  're  just  to  fill  up,  I  suppose." 

"  Well,  we  must  go;  ft  wants   half  an  hour   to 
dinner." 

It  is  time  these  persons,  and   other   evils  of   like 
nature,  departed  to  return  no  more. 

Meanwhile  it  may  be  admitted  that  the  human 
§ye  has  a  wonderful  and  providential  faculty  of 
blindness,  which  is  of  great  service  in  picture-gal- 
leries as  they  are  now.  When,  by  long  subjection 
to  torture,  we  have  learnt  the  walls  by  rote,  we 
can  sometimes  contrive  to  concentrate  our  attention 
upon  what  we  wish  to  see.  But  how  far  from  the 
ideal  is  this  hard- won  and  imperfect  vision !  As 
well  compare  the  tantalization  of  seeing  a  glass  of 
Madeira  wine  to  the  enjoyment  of  quaffing  it. 
We  know  how  sweetly  we  could  be  intoxicated,  if 
only  we  could  get  the  goblet  to  our  lips.  Never- 
theless, unless  we  have  resolution  enough  to  avoid 
galleries  altogether,  our  next  best  course  is  to 
spend  our  whole  time  there.  We  may  thus  ac- 
quire the  faculty  of  keeping  our  eyesight  somewhat 
under  control,  and  of  being  conscious  of  the  outer 
mass  of  pictures  only  as  of  an  ill-digested  meal  — 
by  a  general  uneasiness  which  jaundices  our  vision, 
but  does  not  altogether  prevent  our  imagining  a 
better  state  of  things. 
17 


258  SAXON   STUDIES. 


n. 

THERE  is  a  fine  view  of  the  Theater-Platz  from 
the  windows  of  the  gallery,  and  I  have  often  found 
relief  in  watching  the  building  of  the  new  opera- 
house  from  that  vantage  ground.  It  will  be  a 
more  pretentious  edifice  than  the  old  one,  but  not 
so  unique  and  impressive.  The  latter  was  a  sort 
of  infant  Coliseum  —  or  dwarf  Coliseum,  rather  ; 
for  it  was  so  smoke-blackened  and  weather-beaten 
that  it  looked  five  hundred  years  old.  The  interior 
was  respectably  upholstered  in  the  usual  red  velvet ; 
and  though  the  audience  might  be  somewhat  put 
about  for  room,  the  stage  was  of  good  size.  As 
regards  ventilation,  I  need  not  say  that  every  pre- 
caution was  taken  against  it  which  enlightened  in- 
genuity could  devise,  and  with  complete  success. 
There  were  two  companies  connected  with  this 
theatre  —  one  dramatic,  the  other  operatic  ;  and  it 
should  be  observed  that  the  latter,  who  were  good 
enough  in  their  line,  never  could  be  accused  of 
taking  a  leaf  from  the  former's  book.  The  orches- 
tra was  one  of  the  finest  in  Germany ;  it  played 


DRESDEN   DIVERSIONS.  259 

sacred  music  in  the  cathedral  on  Sunday  mornings, 
and   the   same   evening,    at  the   theatre,   would   in- 
terpret Figaro   or    TannJiaiiser.     Occasionally  some 
grand  oratorios  would  be  produced,  when  the  stage 
would  be   merged  in  the  orchestra,  and  the  singers 
wear  evening  dress,  —  thereby,  it  seems  to  me,  lay- 
ing themselves  open  to  criticism.     I  heard  and  saw 
Haydn 's     "  Creation  "   thus    given,    and   could '  not 
drive    away    irreverent    thoughts.       The    principal 
singers  had  their  seats  immediately  in  front  of   the 
footlights  ;   and   were   down   in   the   programme   as 
the   archangels   Gabriel,    Raphael,   and    Uriel ;   and 
Adam   and   Eve.     Raphael   was   a  bald-headed,  se- 
vere-looking   gentleman,    with    eye-glasses ;    he    sat 
apart,  but  occasionally  leaned  over  to  whisper  some- 
thing   to   a  person   whom    I   at  first    mistook    for 
Uriel,  but  who  turned   out  to   be   Adam.     Uriel   I 
afterwards   identified  with   a  rather  foppish   young 
man  on  the  left.    These  two  archangels,  and  Adam, 
were  attired  in  black  broadcloth   and  snowy  shirt- 
bosoms   and  neckties.     But   Gabriel,  who   sat   next 
to  Uriel,  and  was  manifestly  on   the  best  of   terms 
with   him,  was  a  handsome  young  lady  in   a  black 
satin  dress  cut  low  in  the   body.     She  had  a  slight 
cold,   and  blew  her   nose   during  the   lulls   in   the 
"  Creation."     Eve  —  for  whose  appearance  I  looked 
with    some    interest — was    a    staid    and    decorous 


260  SAXON  STUDIES. 

personage  of  some  forty  summers ;  she  was  dressed 
with  strict  propriety  in  a  black  moire  antique,  high 
in  the  neck ;  and,  as  if  this  were  not  enough,  a 
lace  shawl  was  superadded.  Adam  was  a  tall  man 
with  a  big  voice,  a  prominent  forehead,  and  a 
scraggy  beard.  He  was  an  impulsive  man,  and  his 
book  and  his  voice  were  always  uplifted  simulta- 
neously. 

Since  I  have  gone  so  far,  I  will  add  that  every 
one  of  these  exalted  individuals  consumed  a  great 
deal  of  time  in  saying  very  short  sentences.  Hav- 
ing hit  upon  a  phrase  —  sublime  certainly,  in  its 
original  inspired  simplicity  —  they  so  hung  upon  it, 
and  stuttered  over  it,  and  muttered  it,  and  mouthed 
it,  and  shouted  it,  and  then  began  it  anew  with 
fresh  vigor,  and  broke  off  in  the  middle,  and  went 
back  again,  and  picked  out  a  word  here  and  a 
word  there,  and  juggled  and  dilly-dallied,  that  what 
was  grandeur  became  buffoonery.  True,  they  had 
to  do  it  —  the  inexorable  music,  grinding  out  be- 
hind them,  pulled  their  wires  to  suit  itself,  as  the 
music  of  a  street-organ  seems  to  animate  the  pup- 
pets in  its  show-case.  But  this  is  Haydn,  not  the 
Bible ;  it  was  not  thus  that  the  morning  stars  sang 
together,  and  all  the  sons  of  God  shouted  for  joy. 
Am  I  to  be  blamed  for  finding  Haydn's  "Crea- 
tion" ludicrous?  I  think  the  blame  lies  elsewhere; 


DRESDEN   DIVERSIONS.  261 

I  do  not  find  the  first  chapter  of  Genesis  ludicrous. 
Either  Haydn  was  not  so  great  a  man  as  Moses, 
or  the  "  Creation "  cannot  safely  be  intrusted  to 
Euterpe. 

But  there  was  always  compensation  in  the  Royal 
box.  A  true  democrat  must  ever  be  interested  to 
observe  a  human  being  who  holds  himself,  or  is 
held,  above  the  ordinary  human  level.  In  some 
moods,  the  idea  pleases  the  imagination ;  while  at 
other  times,  as  we  gaze  upon  the  Royal  faces,  it 
seems  irresistibly  funny.  The  apparent  difference 
between  them  and  other  people  consists  in  an  ad- 
mirable simplicity  and  repose  of  manner,  and  a 
full  directness  of  eye,  most  refreshing  after  the 
fussy  gestures  and  evasive  glances  of  plebeianism. 
The  chief  use  of  princes  is  to  preserve  a  tradi- 
tion and  standard  of  perfect  manners,  and  a  re- 
spectable independence  of  soul  —  qualities  one  or 
the  otter  of  which  is  pretty  sure  to  suffer  in  the 
progress  of  republicanism.  But  there  is  a  naive 
innocence  about  them  and  their  paraphernalia  and 
pretensions  which,  amidst  all  the  regal  pomp,  sug- 
gests a  simplicity  more  primitive  and  genuine  than 
Franklin's  plain  coat  at  Versailles. 

But  the  plain  coats  are  coming  into  fashion.  A 
Yankee  friend  of  mine,  while  at  a  medical  college 
in  Saxony,  had  the  honor,  together  with  fifty  or 


262  SAXON   STUDIES. 

a  hundred  other  students,  of  being  visited  by  the 
new  King,  Albert.  His  Majesty,  in  his  progress 
round  the  room,  addressed  some  conventional  re- 
mark to  the  American,  who*  remarked,  in  answer, 
unconventionally  enough,  that  Albert  was  the  first 
King  he  had  ever  seen.  The  seeming  artlessness 
of  this  observation  at  first  conceals  its  originality, 
and  this,  again,  veils  its  profound  subtlety.  For 
in  it  spoke  the  prophetic  voice  of  revolution ;  and 
it  is  due  to  the  King  to  say  that  he  was  both 
startled  and  impressed ;  and  perhaps  he  raised  his 
hand  to  his  head,  to  be  sure  that  his  crown  was 
there.  When  that  remark  has  been  made  a  few 
times  more,  there  will  be  no  king  left  to  hear  it. 


DRESDEN   DIVERSIONS.  263 


in. 

THE  most  brilliant  performance  I  ever  witnessed 
at  the  old  opera-house  was  when  it  was  burnt 
down,  some  five  years  ago.  The  fire  caught  in 
the  garret,  and  a  puff  of  smoke  popped  hastily 
out  of  window,  as  if  to  summon  assistance.  But 
its  appeal  was  received  with  sarcastic  incredulity. 
Fifteen  minutes  elapsed,  and  then  a  body  of  flame 
burst  suddenly  through  the  roof,  and  the  Cassan- 
dra-puff was  avenged  for  its  rude  treatment.  It 
was  a  magnificent  fire,  and  the  Dresden  firemen 
showed  their  appreciation  of  its  beauty  by  making 
no  attempt  to  put  it  out.  There  was  not  a  breath 
of  wind ;  had  there  been,  Dresden  would  have 
perished  upon  the  funeral-pyre  of  its  opera-house. 
Very  soon  an  oval  column  of  flame,  seventy,  feet 
in  diameter,  stood  straight  up,  and  roared  two 
hundred  feet  aloft.  Above  the  flame,  a  dark  stem 
of  smoke  ascended  perpendicularly,  so  high  that 
it  seemed  to  impinge  against  the  dull  gray  cloud 
which  screened  the  heavens.  Here  a  petulant 
breeze  caught  it,  and  trailed  and  drifted  it  hither 


264  SAXON   STUDIES. 

and  thither  athwart  the  sky,  until  the  whole  re- 
sembled a  titanic  palm-tree,  with  a  stem  a  mile  in 
height,  whose  feathery  foliage  overshadowed  the 
whole  city.  And  in  what  a  red-hot  flower-pot  was 
that  palm-tree  planted !  so  hot  that  the  pictures 
were  blistered  in  the  gallery,  more  than  seventy 
yards  distant ;  and  the  Madonna  descended  in  haste 
from  the  wall,  and  took  refuge  at  the  farther  side 
of  the  building. 

Early  in  the  proceedings,  the  soldiers  were  called 
out,  and  formed  in  a  cordon  surrounding  the  build- 
ing, and  distant  from  it  about  fifty  paces.  All 
these  gallant  fellows  afterwards  fought  the  French, 
but  not  at  Gravelotte  nor  at  Sedan  was  it  their 
destiny  to  face  so  hot  a  fire  as  this.  The  ther- 
mometer, at  this  range,  marked  almost  200°  Fah- 
renheit. Their  rifles  grew  so  warm  that  there  was 
a  general  disposition  to  ground  arms,  and  acknowl- 
edge that  the  old  opera-house  had  the  best  of  it. 
Retreat  they  could  not,  for  they  were  hemmed  in 
by  a  solid  wedge  of  human  bodies  a  quarter  of  a 
mile  deep  on  every  side  save  one,  and  there  was 
the  river.  The  precise  reason  of  their  being  there 
at  all  has  always  been  a  mystery  to  me.  Ostensi- 
bly it  was  to  prevent  the  populace  from  getting 
into  dangerous  proximity  to  the  burning  buildings, 
but,  inasmuch  as  it  was  physically  impossible  to 


DRESDEN  DIVERSIONS.  265 

advance  twenty  paces  nearer  without  being  shriv- 
elled to  a  cinder,  I  can  hardly  suppose  this  to  have 
been  the  true  cause.  Perhaps  it  was  merely  to 
accustom  the  warriors'  souls  to  stand  unmoved  in 
the  presence  of  ruin  and  devastation.  Or,  again, 
it  may  have  been  a  subtle  stroke  of  policy,  to  es- 
tablish the  precedent  of  military  intervention  in 
municipal  affairs,  by  thus  parading  when  there 
was  no  real  occasion  for  it,  and  could,  therefore, 
be  no  possible  objection  on  the  municipal  part. 


266  SAXON   STUDIES. 


IV. 

THE  German  language,  as  socially  spoken,  does 
not  sound  musical,  but  the  opera-singers  so  modify 
the  pronunciation  as  to  make  it  soft  and  agreeable. 
I  am  acquainted  with  no  language,  however,  which 
sounds  so  differently  from  different  lips  as  does  this 
German.  The  Saxons  are  not  true  Germans,  but  of 
Wendish  extraction,  and  their  pronunciation,  though 
by  no  means  the  harshest,  is  the  most  demoralized 
of  all ;  and  those  foreigners  who  have  formed  their 
accent  on  Saxon  models  have,  humanly  speaking, 
disqualified  themselves  from  ever  getting  it  right. 
In  its  perfection,  German  is  eminently  a  masculine 
tongue,  but  Dresden  has  emasculated  it.  She  clips 
it,  whines  it,  undulates  it,  sing-songs  it,  lubricates 
it,  until  it  becomes  a  very  eunuch  of  languages. 
The  hard,  clear,  deliberate  Hanoverian  pronuncia- 
tion compares  with  hers  as  chips  of  ice  shaken  in 
a  crystal  goblet,  with  lukewarm  dish-water  filliped 
in  a  greasy  slop-bowl. 

My  feeling  with  regard  to  the  pronunciation  of 
foreign  languages  is  perhaps  unorthodox,  but  observa- 
tion inclines  me  to  believe  that  it  is  not  altogether 


DRESDEN  DIVERSIONS.  267 

unique.  I  never  imitate  the  native  accent  without 
feeling  a  little  ashamed  of  myself,  and  the  closer 
my  imitation,  the  greater  my  loss  of  self-respect. 
On  the  other  hand,  an  execrably  English  twang, 
or,  still  more,  a  few  English  words  thrown  in  here 
and  there,  revive  my  drooping  independence  like  a 
tonic.  I  may  be  as  correct  in  my  grammar,  and 
in  the  placing  of  my  verbs  and  participles,  as  my 
knowledge  will  admit,  without  a  whisper  of  self- 
reproach;  but  the  moment  I  attempt  to  disguise 
my  nationality,  I  am  degraded. 

Moreover,  supposing  such  disguise  possible,  what 
is  gained  by  it?  Is  it  so  great  a  triumph  to  be 
mistaken  for  a  Saxon,  for  instance  ?  There  is 
surely  nothing  intellectual  in  mimicry,  and  our 
best  success  amounts  to  nothing  higher  than  that. 
No ;  a  foreign  accent  is  to  be  shunned  rather  than 
sought.  It  is  as  demoralizing  as  to  wear  another 
man's  clothes.  •  It  cannot  be  attained  without  doing 
violence  to  the  inner  nature  —  to  those  fine  percep- 
tions of  modesty  and  decorum  which  give  charac- 
ter its  worth.  A  person  who  speaks  a  foreign  lan- 
guage so  well  as  to  deceive  a  native,  is  rarely  a 
delicate-minded  man.  He  will  either  be  subtle, 
deceitful,  sly,  with  a  talent  for  intrigue,  or  else 
superficial,  coarse,  and  vain.  He  can  seldom  pos- 
sess a  sensitive  and  nicely-balanced  individuality. 


268  SAXON   STUDIES. 

Besides,  what  is  called  a  broken  accent  is  not  dis- 
pleasing to  the  native  hearer ;  rather  it  impresses 
him  as  a  sort  of  indirect  compliment  to  the  su- 
preme refinement  of  his  tongue.  And,  at  best,  we 
find  ourselves  saying  things  in  a  foreign  language 
which  we  should  never  dream  of  uttering  in  our 
own.  We  feel  it  to  be  a  veil  over  our  real  selves, 
and  so  venture  upon  unaccustomed  liberties  ;  like 
scurrilous  critics  who  write  anonymously.  There 
is  a  point  beyond  which  cosmopolitanism  becomes 
unwholesome. 


DRESDEN  DIVERSIONS.  269 


V. 

IF  we  can  manage  to  lay  aside  the  vulgar  prejudice 
against  amusements  on  Sunday,  a  main  obstacle  to 
enjoying  ourselves  in  Dresden  is  already  removed. 
Look  upon  Sunday  as  a  holiday  —  it  is  nothing 
else,  indeed  —  and  theatre-going,  dancing,  and 
junketing  can  hardly  appear  illegitimate.  Live 
among  Saxons  for  a  year  or  two,  or  for  half  a 
dozen  years  if  two  be  not  enough,  and  Sabbath 
bells  will  cease  to  distract  us  from  enjoyment  of 
the  opera-bouffe  overture.  Walking  out  in  the 
clear  Sabbath  twilight,  to  meditate  upon  the  immor- 
tality of  the  soul,  we  shall  but  meditate  the  more  at 
the  glimpse  of  heated  couples  gyrating  to  a  riddle 
in  yonder  dance-hall.  And,  as  we  grow  wiser  and 
broader-minded,  we  shall  gradually  cease  to  asso-' 
ciate  Sunday  with  any  thoughts  of  God,  or  of  a  life 
beyond  this  world.  This  point  once  reached,  we 
may  congratulate  ourselves,  and  push  onwards  hope- 
fully. Is  it  not,  after  all,  fatal  to  our  appreciation 
of  the  world  we  are  in,  to  keep  mingling  with  it 
speculations  about  a  world  we  may  never  attain  ? 


270  SAXON  STUDIES. 

Saxons  have  emancipated  themselves  in  good  meas- 
ure from  such  confusion.  They  recognize  religion 
as  a  word  of  four  syllables,  whose  meaning  is  open 
to  discussion.  It  gives  them  a  holiday  once  a 
week,  and  a  pretext  for  bullying  the  Pope  every 
day.  It  is  true  that  the  royal  family  are  Roman 
Catholics,  and  a  good  part  of  their  subjects  also  ; 
but  that  is  a  matter  of  detail.  There  is  no  per- 
sonal animosity  in  the  attitude  of  the  rival  parties 
—  nothing  but  political  exigency.  Except  His  Ho- 
liness and  Prince  Bismarck,  nobody  really  cares 
how  the  cat  jumps.  Select  a  Lutheran  here  and  a 
Catholic  there,  and  confront  them  with  each  other 
as  spiritual  enemies  —  they  cannot  keep  straight 
countenances.  The  Catholic  makes  the  sign  of  the 
cross,  the  Lutheran  hums  his  "  Wein,  Weib  und 
Gesang,"  they  link  arms  and  are  off  to  the  Sunday 
masquerade. 

Let  us  be  emancipated  too,  and  follow  them. 
These  masquerades  are  a  prominent  Dresden  diver- 
sion during  the  winter.  They  are  widely  adver- 
tised, not  only  by  the  placards  which  glow  forth  in 
crimson,  yellow,  and  blue,  from  every  advertising- 
post,  but  still  more  by  the  masks  which  now  be- 
gin to  crowd  and  grimace  in  shop  windows.  Here 
is  every  variety,  from  the  simple  false  nose  to  the 
elaborate  head  and  shoulders,  complete  both  back 


DRESDEN  DIVERSIONS.  271 

and  front.  Here  they  hang,  row  above  row,  grin- 
ning, empty  things,  a  curious  revelation  of  what 
men  would  make  of  themselves  if  flesh  and  blood 
were  plastic  as  thought  and  pasteboard.  What 
cynical  genius  designs  these  grotesque  disguises  ? 
The  worst  about  them  is  that  they  are  not  so 
much  disguises  as  revelations  ;  for  there  is  not  one 
among  them  whose  living  prototype  we  have  not 
met  somewhere.  So  soon,  however,  as  others  than 
the  prototypes  put  them  on,  there  begins  a  strange 
confusion.  Our  friend  gets  behind  a  mask,  and  be- 
hold !  an  ugly  miracle.  The  movements,  the  ges- 
tures, and  tones  of  voice  are  the  same  as  before, 
but  their  contrast  with  those  discordant  features 
causes  the  latter  to  seem  even  more  extravagant 
and  unfamiliar.  The  transformation  shows  how 
completely  the  whole  man  corresponds  with  his 
face  and  interprets  it.  Lengthen  his  chin  a  little, 
or  widen  his'  mouth,  and  presently  he  becomes  a 
new  individual  from  top  to  toe.  If  he  could  wear 
this  pasteboard  countenance  as  long  as  the  Man  in 
the  Iron  Mask  wore  his  velvet  one,  he  would  har- 
monize himself  with  it  to  the  minutest  particular ; 
his  conversation,  manner,  and  character  would  be 
just  what  we  should  expect  from  his  features ;  and 
should  he  then  snatch  the  pasteboard  off,  his  origi- 
nal face  would  impress  us  as  grotesquely  as  the 
mask  does  now. 


272  SAXON   STUDIES. 

If,  as  moralists  assure  us  is  the  case,  each  man's 
face  be  the  mask  of  his  soul,  there  must  be  a  cu- 
rious scene  when  we  maskers  get  to  the  next 
world.  Having  spent  our  earthly  existence  in  art- 
fully screening  our  true  features,  and  conforming 
our  conduct  of  life  to  the  device  upon  the  screen, 
the  abrupt  removal  thereof  ought  seriously  to  em- 
barrass us.  I  have  good  hopes,  however,  that  the 
case  is  not  so  bad  as  the  moralists  would  have  us 
believe.  We  are  apt  to  press  on  our  masks  so 
closely  that  the  reality  underneath  shows  through. 
The  very  effort  to  deceive  reacts  upon  the  means 
of  deception.  The  sanctimonious  scoundrel  —  to 
take  a  familiar  instance  —  wears  by  no  means  so 
impenetrable  a  disguise  as  he  flatters  himself  he 
does.  No  fear  but  his  friends  will  recognize  him 
in  the  future  life.  They  will  fancy,  not  that  he 
has  changed,  but  that  their  eyesight  has  improved  ; 
certain  indistinct  impressions  have  now  become 
plain  truths,  and  that  is  all. 

The  only  real  security  is  in  pasteboard ;  and  the 
universal  popularity  of  masquerades  is  in  part  con- 
sequent upon  this  fact.  For  the  time  we  are 
thoroughly  not  ourselves.  There  is  indescribable 
fascination  in  the  idea.  What  a  boon  to  slip  out 
of  our  personality  for  an  evening,  and  take  such 
illegitimate  liberties  as  our  proper  selves  would 


DRESDEN   DIVERSIONS.  273 

blush  at  the  mere  mention  of !  Never  till  now  did 
we  realize  how  enormously  heavy  a  burden  is  per- 
sonal reputation  —  how  self-restraint  presses  upon 
us  at  every  point,  like  the  atmosphere.  Having 
flung  it  aside,  what  a  wild,  fantastic  freedom 
marks  every  movement!  A  mask  cannot  blush, 
nor  change  countenance,  and  we  indulge  our  mad- 
dest freak  with  entire  composure.  This  were  a 
merry  world  if  no  one  knew  his  fellow,  nor  could 
find  him  out.  It  is  lucky  for  civilization  that  we 
cannot  so  much  as  black  our  boots  in  a  manner 
inconsistent  with  our  past  and  our  prospects. 

But  the  spur  of  the  fun  is  its  necessary  brief- 
ness. If  the  masquerade  could  last  a  year,  we 
should  only  have  shifted  one  self  to  take  up  another 
quite  as  burdensome.  Besides,  the  spice  of  mys- 
tery and  novelty  is  evanescent,  and,  by  and  by,  we  . 
cease  to  laugh  at  one  another's  long  noses.  Why 
we  ever  laughed  at  them  is  hard  to  say  :  perhaps 
only  as  an  alternative  to  shuddering  or  weeping. 
Children  are  more  frightened  than  amused  by 
masks  of  aH  kinds,  which  proves  them  not  funny, 
but  monstrous ;  and  our  laughter  only  shows  our 
callousness. 

As  to  these  Dresden  masquerades,  I  may  observe 
that   the    more    masked    they  are  the  better.     The 

majority  of   their    patrons  are  in  attendance  to  re- 
is 


274  SAXON   STUDIES, 

gale  such  traits  of  human  nature  as  are  commonly 
kept  in  strict  concealment.  Under  such  circum- 
stances, a  hideous  mask  is  often  the  best  virtue 
possible ;  it  is,  so  to  say,  devilishly  appropriate. 
However  hideous  it  may  be,  the  revelation  of  the 
naked  face  is  often  yet  more  revolting ;  and  my 
chief  quarrel  with  Dresden  masquerades  is  on  the 
ground  of  their  indecency  in  too  often  neglecting 
to  keep  their  indecency  veiled. 


DRESDEN  DIVERSIONS.  275 


VI. 

AT  masquerades  the  Saxon  disguises  himself  in 
more  ways  than  one.  He  lays  not  much  stress 
upon  his  domino  and  vizard,  but  he  bewilders  us 
by  an  unwonted  pecuniary  extravagance,  and  him- 
self with  too  much  champagne.  Although  there 
are  no  people  that  can  less  truly  be  considered 
temperate  than  the  Saxons,  we  seldom  find  them 
helplessly  intoxicated  ;  and  this  precisely  because 
they  habitually  drink  so  much.  Fortunately,  more- 
over, it  is  to  beer  that  they  chiefly  address  them- 
selves, as  being  the  cheapest  liquor  and  the  most 
accessible.  But  when  they  forsake  this  honest 
beverage  for  more  costly  and  potent  ones,  they  are 
speedily  overcome.  And  they  betra^y  an  unwhole- 
some delight  in  drunkenness.  An  American  or  a 
Frenchman  is  apt  to  be  very  troublesome  when 
intoxicated ;  an  Englishman,  more  or  less  brutal ; 
but  the  Saxon  is  purely  disgusting  both  in  act  and 
aspect.  Besides,  neither  in  the  prospect  nor  the 
retrospect  is  he  at  all  ashamed  of  his  vinous  fer- 
mentation, but,  rather,  proud,  as  the  Bacchantes 
might  have  been. 


276  SAXON  STUDIES. 

Whoever  should  attempt  —  without  any  definite 
information,  but  relying  upon  his  knowledge  of 
Saxon  character  and  tendencies — to  form  an  idea 
of  what  a  masquerade  in  Dresden  would  be  like, 
could  not  fail  to  be  taken  aback  at  the  reality. 
The  extent  and  boldness  of  the  advertising  is  mis- 
leading, for  how  can  that  to  which  the  whole  com- 
munity is  invited  be  very  improper  ?  We  are  pre- 
pared, perhaps,  to  be  a  little  scandalized,  but  we 
certainly  count  on  being  amused,  and  most  likely 
gratified  by  a  gorgeous  and  imposing  spectacle. 
The  carnivals  of  old,  we  have  heard,  were  splendid 
to  the  eye,  however  questionable  otherwise ;  and 
some  of  us  have  read  Mr.  De  Quincey's  "  Masque 
of  Klosterheim,"  and  are  ready  for  all  imaginable 
mystery  and  grandeur.  The  very  name  "  masque," 
"  masquerade,"  possesses  an  indescribable  magnet- 
ism of  its  own. 

So  we  present  our  ticket  at  the  door,  and  pass 
through  the  dressing-room  into  the  main  hall.  It 
is  thronged  from  side  to  side,  full  of  light,  music, 
human  hum  and  tumult,  and  occasionally  a  shriller 
laugh  or  call  heard  above  the  even  din.  The  orches- 
tra is  somewhere  overhead  ;  the  whole  broad  floor  is 
given  up  to  the  dancers,  actual  or  potential.  The 
latter  form  a  wide,  dense  ring  around  the  former, 
whose  reeling  heads  we  behold  confusedly  agitated  ; 


DRESDEN  DIVERSIONS.  277 

now  merging  exhausted  in  the  ring,  anon  starting 
from  it  with  new  vigor.  The  Saxons  are  clever 
dancers,  one  and  all,  and  devoted  to  the  pastime ; 
but  I  confess  I  like  it  less  since  seeing  them  enjoy 
it.  They  dance  with  emphasis  —  with  a  greedy 
persistence  which  is  disenchanting.  When  warmed 
to  their  work,  the  partners  face  '  each  other,  the 
man's  arms  round  the  woman's  waist,  her  hands 
clutching  his  shoulders,  and  so  fixed  they  spin  tee- 
totum-like. But  though  this  arrangement  is  good 
for  pace,  it  lacks  the  artificial  grace  which  is  the 
charm  of  modern  dancing.  Since  we  cannot  be 
veritable  nymphs  and  fauns,  it  is  best  to  adopt  as 
different  a  style  as  possible. 

The  hall  is  draped  with  banners,  and  the  walls 
glow  with  various  emblazonment.  But  when  we 
turn  to  the  masqueraders  themselves,  they  seem 
less  fine  than  their  surroundings.  Three  fourths 
of  the  men  are  in  evening  dress  or  even  in  ordi- 
nary clothes,  with  nothing  better  than  a  half-mask, 
or  a  false  nose  to  hide  their  faces  withal ;  and 
not  a  few  have  dispensed  even  with  these  poor 
disguises.  Such  nonconformity  is  discouraging  — 
nay,  insulting  —  as  if  our  host  at  a  banquet  should 
present  us  our  food  uncooked.  The  women  are 
more  orthodox;  scarce  one  but  wears  a  mask,  gen- 
erally a  silken  vizard  with  a  veil  for  the  lower 


278  SAXON   STUDIES. 

part  of  the  face.  Most  of  them,  too,  are  clad  in 
fancy  costume  —  either  a  gay  domino,  or  a  stage 
dress  more  or  less  elaborate.  There  are  half  a 
dozen  ballet-dancers,  in  gauze  and  silk  tights  — 
somewhat  dismaying,  by  their  palpable  proximity, 
those  whose  ideas  of  such  beings  have  been  formed 
only  from  behin'd  the  footlights.  Others  there  are 
in  still  more  dashing  attire,  which  I  will  not  un- 
dertake to  describe.  But  it  would  be  all  very 
well,  and  in  keeping,  were  it  not  for  those  black- 
coated,  barefaced,  besotted,  masculine  intruders, 
who,  like  a  malignant  touchstone,  reveal  the  ugli- 
ness beneath  the  gay  outside,  and  force  us  to  see 
only  a  cheat  in  the  prettiest  pretences. 

Such  as  it  is,  however,  there  is  more  masquerad- 
ing in  the  main  hall  than  in  the  side  rooms,  and 
the  discreet  visitor  will  not  push  his  investigations 
far  beyond  the  sound  of  the  music,  lest-  some  sud- 
den Gorgon  freeze  him  to  stone.  A  glass  or  two 
of  wine  beyond  the  common  is,  perhaps,  a  wise  pre- 
scription at  this  juncture.  Now,  let  us  force  our 
way  through  the  ring,  and  seize  our  partner.  We 
need  not  be  ceremonious,  and  wait  for  an  introduc- 
tion ;  nor  is  such  a  thing  as  monopolization  of  the 
chosen  companion  countenanced.  To  the  Saxon, 
all  woman  is  one.  For  convenience  sake,  she  is 
multiplied  into  fractions  ;  but  one  is  just  as  good 


DRESDEN  DIVERSIONS.  279 

for  practical  purposes  as  another.  The  nearest  at 
hand  is  the  most  ours ;  yet  we  must  not  resent 
having  her  taken  from  our  arms  after  the  enjoy- 
ment of  a  turn  or  two.  The  question  is  not,  With 
whom  did  you  dance?  but,  How  much  ? 

To  launch  forth,  with  a  good  waltzer,  to  excel- 
lent music,  compensates  many  evils  ;  and,  but  for 
collisions,  slips,  dust,  heat,  and  exhaustion,  we 
should  henceforth  get  on  famously.  But  as  the 
evening  advances,  such  checks  increase.  The  wine 
makes  the  floor  slippery  and  the  dancers  unwieldy. 
The  scene  begins  to  wear  a  very  dilapidated  ap- 
pearance. The  noise  is  greater,  but  more  disor- 
ganized ;  the  laughter  is  wilder ;  there  are  sudden 
screams;  and  now  and  then  a  short  scuffle,  and 
perhaps  a  fall.  Meanwhile,  the  music  pours  on  un- 
ceasing, infusing  a  strange  harmony  into  the  dis- 
cord. The  policemen — a  number  of  whom  have 
been  lurking  unobtrusively  in  shady  corners  —  are 
now  occasionally  in  requisition  ;  but  it  must  be 
admitted  that  '  they  are  very  lenient ;  it  would 
need  a  murder  to  move  them  to  real  severity. 
They  cast  reproachful  glances ;  or,  in  extreme 
cases,  impose  a  remonstrative  hand.  But  there  is 
no  clubbing,  no  show  of  arms,  no  dragging  out  by 
the  coat-collar.  Nor  is  it  needed  ;  the  mere  sight 
of  the  black  helmet  is  ordinarily  enough  ;  for  be- 


280  SAXON   STUDIES. 

neath  it  lowers,  to  the  evil-doer's  eye,  not  the  in- 
offensive visage  of  the  individual  policeman,  but 
the  impending  brow,  trenchant  glance,  and  aggres- 
sive chin  of  Germany's  greatest  statesman.  Mumbo 
Jumbo  teaches  even  drunkards  to  reason  and  re- 
frain. 

Meanwhile,  eating  and  drinking  proceed  in  the 
anterooms,  and  above-stairs  in  the  galleries  and 
lobbies.  But  the  guests  are  in  a  sadly  dishevelled 
state ;  even  the  women  are  now  unmasked,  and 
so  the  last  reserve  is%  overthrown.  We  must  have 
a  boisterous  appetite  to  compass  a  supper  at  one 
of  these  tables,  amid  such  queer  neighbors.  De- 
bauchery has  no  attractions  in  Saxony  beyond  its 
naked  self ;  and  those  who  indulge  in  it  there, 
must  love  it  for  its  own  unmitigated  sake.  It  is 
for  the  gratification  of  these  its  children  that  a 
paternal  Government  provides  masquerades,  and 
finds  them  remunerative. 


DRESDEN   DIVERSIONS.  281 


vn. 

FAR  different  from  this  masked  iniquity  are  the 
balls  given  by  the  proprietors  of  beer-saloons  to 
their  customers,  and  to  such  friends  as  the  latter 
may  choose  to  invite.  Hither  flock  minor  trades- 
men with  their  wives  and  daughters,  and  hotel- 
waiters,  clerks,  and  such  small  deer  of  society. 
They  are  all  well-behaved  ;  there  is  nothing  of  the 
riot  and  disturbance  which  would  mark  a  gather- 
ing of  the  same  rank  in  America.  Here  is  peace- 
ful good-nature,  and,  though  joy  be  unconfined, 
there  is  decorum  —  at  least,  what  Saxons  under- 
stand as  such.  There  is  little  attempt  at  dress ; 
the  men  are  in  their  Sunday  coats  and  light 
trousers,  the  women  in  robes  of  stout  material, 
not  of  Parisian  design,  but  prettified  about  the 
arms  and  shoulders  with  lace  and  muslin.  Gloves 
are  unknown ;  you  receive  your  partner's  hand  as 
nature  and  exercise  have  left  it.  The  fun  is  not 
confined  to  the  young  people ;  they  bring  their 
fathers  and  mothers  with  them,  and  the  latter 
dance  as  vigorously  and  enjoyingly  as  their  off- 


282  SAXON   STUDIES. 

spring.  Every  one  is  on  familiar  terms  with  his 
neighbor,  so  that  the  assembly  feels  like  a  family 
party. 

A  friend  of  mine,  an  American  of  the  West,  who 
had  investigated  many  curious  phases  of  Saxon  life, 
went  with  me  to  one  of  these  merry-makings.  We 
had  for  some  weeks  past  assiduously  visited  a  modest 
Restauration,\n  the  Am  See,  where  the  beer  was 
brought  us  by  a  stalwart  maiden  named  Anna.  Our 
calls  being  usually  made  about  the  middle  of  the  after- 
noon, Anna  had  leisure  for  social  converse,  and 
surprised  us  by  the  extent  of  her  attainments. 
Not  only  could  she  play  on  the  piano,  which  pro- 
longed a  tuneless  existence  in  one  corner  of  the 
room,  but  she  could  beat  us  at  capping  verses  from 
Heine,  and  even,  as  we  subsequently  discovered, 
could  rhyme  a  very  creditable  stanza  herself.  In 
short,  she  was  a  young  woman  of  parts,  and  I 
fancy  she  had  ambitions.  Her  personal  attractions 
are  soon  enumerated.  She  was  short  and  broad 
shouldered ;  her  arms  and  cheeks  were  red-shiny ; 
her  wide,  good-humored  mouth  was  always  stretch- 
ing to  a  smile.  Her  bright,  small  gray  eyes 
twinkled  in  a  very  contracted  cranium,  which  was 
surmounted  by  a  swathing  of  hair  so  flattened 
down  and  polished  off  that  it  seemed  to  be  a  coat- 


DRESDEN   DIVERSIONS.  283 

ing  of  yellow-brown  paint,  laid  on  thick  and  var- 
nished. 

Anna  invited  us  to  this  ball,  and  she  gave  us  each 
a  card  on  which  were  neatly  written  her  own  name 
and  ours,  her  chosen  guests.  I  have  seldom  received 
an  invitation  so  genuinely  cordial  as  this.  Anna  was 
proud  of  us,  and  even  a  little  anxious  lest  something 
might  prevent  our  coming.  Again  and  again  did 
she  earnestly  beseech  us  not  to  fail  her,  and  did 
grin  from  one  honest  ear  to  the  other  when  we 
swore  that  nothing  but  death  should  detain  us. 

The  ball  was  at  a  saloon  half  a  mile  out  of 
town,  and  had  been  going  on  for  an  hour  or  two 
before  our  arrival.  We  discussed  a  Schnitt  of  beer 
in  the  Vorsaal,  and  then  peeped  modestly  through 
the  ball-room  door.  A  waltz  was  in  progress,  and 
for  a  while  we  looked  in  vain  for  Anna  among 
the  whirling  couples.  There  were  near  a 'hundred 
people  present,  and  all  at  work ;  and  the  evening 
being  rather  a  warm  one,  they  were  pretty  thor- 
oughly heated.  The  Saxon,  in  this  condition,  is 
less  attractive  than  at  other  times.  Perhaps,  speak- 
ing generally,  there  are  few  better  ways  of  dis- 
tinguishing the  aristocrat  from  the  plebeian  than 
to  get  both  in  a  profuse  perspiration.  It  is  as 
sure  a  test  of  physical  purity  as  was  the  fairy  gir- 
dle at  Guinevere's  court  of  moral  cleanliness. 


284  SAXON  STUDIES. 

At  length  we  caught  sight  of  Anna's  genial  coun- 
tenance, brilliant  with  heat  and  pleasure,  glowing 
over  the  shoulder  of  a  revolving  young  shopkeeper. 
She  saw  us  at  the  same  moment,  and  shot  a 
broad  smile  across  the  hall ;  and  spinning  her 
partner  to  a  seat,  she  hastened  up  to  us  all  redo- 
lent of  hospitality.  How  pretty  she  looked !  She 
was  really  the  belle  of  the  evening.  She  was  en- 
veloped, as  to  the  upper  part  of  her  stout  person, 
in  white  muslin,  through  which  shone  mistily  her 
rosy  arms  and  shoulders ;  below,  fell  a  skirt  of 
some  respectable  gray  fabric,  not  so  long  as  to  in- 
commode her  dancing  feet.  Her  ears  were  splen- 
did with  glittering  glass  pendants  ;  round  her  neck 
a  yellow  glass  cross  was  suspended  by  a  black 
gutta-percha  chain.  Is  there  not  pathos  in  these 
poor  little  details  of  finery,  and  her  manifest  de- 
light in  them  ?  On  her  short  fingers  were  three 
or  four  broad  rings  as  yellow  as  gold.  At  her 
throat  —  for  even  so  much  magnificence  was  not 
enough  —  Anna  wore  a  brooch  as  big  as  the  palm 
of  her  own  hand,  of  tin,  artfully  moulded  to  re- 
semble diamonds.  As  to  her  hair,  it  seemed  to 
have  grown  by  the  yard  since  yesterday,  and  was 
frizzled  in  short  curls  over  the  forehead.  It  was 
plentifully  anointed  with  some  glistening  unguent, 
upon  which  I  forbear  to  dwell.  It  was  the  only  thing 
about  Anna  which  we  could  not  admire. 


DRESDEN   DIVERSIONS.  285 

Nothing  could  be  more  flattering  in  its  simplicity 
than  the  way  she  took  my  friend's  hand,  rested 
her  chin  upon  his  shoulder,  and,  without  question 
asked  or  expected,  danced  him  off  into  the  steaming 
tumult  of  the  hall.  I  watched  their  devious  course, 
whirling,  plunging,  staggering,  desperately  keeping 
time,  now  hidden,  anon  reappearing,  and  evermore 
revolving  !  At  length,  either  he  relented,  and  gasped 
in  her  ear  to  remember  her  deserted  guest,  or  it  was 
her  own  kind  heart  that  brought  her  whirling  back 
to  where  I  stood,  and  transferred  her  from  his  arms 
to  mine. 

How  long  the  spell  lasted  I  never  knew,  but  it 
seemed  to  me  that  Anna  must  be  Atalanta  in  disguise. 
At  length,  however,  our  motion  appeared  to  have 
ceased,  though  still  the  room  wheeled  and  tipped 
before  my  eyes.  We  had  eddied  into  a  seat  — 
Anna  and  I  —  and  it  was  given  me  to  know  that 
her  threefold  performance  had  finally  exhausted 
her. 

"  Ach !  so  miide  bin  Ich,"  she  faltered,  and  with 
that  she  innocently  drooped  her  anointed  head  and 
laid  it  on  my  shoulder.  The  situation  was  too 
tender  for  long  continuance :  the  fragrant  head 
was  uplifted  ;  but  I  found  its  imprint  on  the  broad- 
cloth the  next  morning — -"Zum  Andenken,"  as 
Anna  would  have  said. 


280  SAXON   STUDIES. 

At  midnight  supper  was  announced,  and  the 
response  was  unanimous.  Three  long  tables  were 
placed  on  as  many  sides  of  a  square,  while  oppo- 
site the  open  end  a  small  one  was  set  apart  for 
the  host  and  his  family.  We  occupied  the  top  of  the 
right-hand  table,  with  Anna  between  us.  We  were 
scarcely  well  settled  in  our  places  when  the  toasting 
began.  The  host's  health  was  first  proposed  by  an 
orator  at  the  lower  table.  Amid  the  consequent  en- 
thusiastic uproar,  the  host  filled  his  goblet,  and  step- 
ping into  the  hollow  square  of  tables,  touched  glasses 
with  all  his  hundred  guests,  they  meanwhile  standing 
up  or  even  climbing  on  their  chairs,  loudly  chanting 
the  "  Hoch  soil  er  leben  !  "  which  is  always  the  ac- 
companiment of  the  ceremony. 

When  the  noise  had  subsided,  the  host  —  he  was 
a  small,  dapper  man,  with  bushy  whiskers  and  a 
rather  nervous  manner  —  made  an  address  of  some 
length.  He  was  cheered  throughout,  and  ended 
with  proposing  somebody  else's  health,  which  was 
received  in  precisely  the  same  manner  as  his  own 
had  been.  Thus  the  ball  rolled  round  the  table, 
every  other  guest,  at  least,  being  called  on,  and 
responding  with  a  speech,  a  song,  or  an  original 
poem.  The  ladies  took  part  in  the  exercises  no 
less  than  the  men  ;  and  when  Anna  rose  to  reply  to 
the  flattering  terms  in  which  her  name  had  been 


DRESDEN   DIVERSIONS.  287 

brought  forward,  she  recited,  with  good  emphasis  and 
discretion,  some  three  or  four  easy-flowing  verses  of 
her  own  composition. 

At  last  there  was  a  pause,  and  we  wondered  what 
was  to  happen  next.  But  gradually,  the  eyes 
of  all  present  turned  and  fastened  upon  us.  Then 
solemnly  the  host  arose,  and  began  with  formal 
hints  which  by  degrees  grew  more  and  more  trans- 
parent and  complimentary,  to  call  attention  to  the 
presence  in  the  assembly  of  two  distinguished  stran- 
gers —  foreigners  —  in  fact,  Americans.  A  brief 
eulogy  of  that  great  nation  followed  ;  and  finally 
came  (the  host's  version  of)  our  names,  and  a  sum- 
mons —  most  heartily  supported  —  to  drink  us  with 
all  the  honors. 

During  the  succeeding  tumult  we  held  a  hurried 
consultation ;  and  then  my  friend  showed  himself 
equal  to  the  occasion.  He  delivered  a  speech  as  full 
of  flowers  as  a  Chicago  greenhouse,  the  perfume 
of  which,  though  imperceptible  to  Saxon  olfac- 
tories (for  it  was  in  English),  was  none  the  less 
grateful  and  sincere.  It  could  not  have  been  bet- 
ter received  had  his  tongue  been  a  very  Goethe's. 
Indeed  I  fancy  our  Saxon  friends  felt  even  more 
gratified  and  complimented  by  a  speech  which  they 
could  not  comprehend  than  otherwise.  At  all 
events,  it  was  the  success  of  the  evening.  We 


288  SAXON   STUDIES. 

immediately  became  cynosures,  and  were  introduced 
to  everybody  —  among  others,  to  those  two  unexcep- 
tional little  personages,  Anna's  father  and  mother. 
I  think  the  old  lady  took  a  fancy  to  me ;  we  never 
failed  to  touch  glasses  with  a  smile  and  a  bow  be- 
fore drinking,  and  afterwards,  in  the  cotillon,  she 
bestowed  two  favors  upon  me  —  the  Cross  of  the 
Legion  of  Honor  and  the  Cap  of  Liberty. 

It  were  too  long  to  rehearse  in  detail  a  tithe 
of  the  events  which  followed.  Anna,  unable  to 
choose  between  us,  was  partner  of  us  both  in  the 
ensuing  cotillon;  nay,  it  seemed  that  even  we 
could  not  satisfy  her  waltzing  appetite,  for  she 
had  three  or  four  relays  of  young  Saxons  con- 
stantly in  waiting  for  the  spare  turns.  She  did 
not  spare  herself  at  all ;  and  we  could  not  help 
wishing  on  more  accounts  than  one,  that  she  had 
been  somewhat  less  popular.  Indefatigable  Anna! 
Her  muslin  garment  clung  to  her  as  though  she 
had  been  immersed  in  beer. 

Till  two  o'clock  we  jigged  it  ceaselessly  ;  then 
there  was  a  universal  pause ;  each  couple  sought 
their  chairs,  and  gradually  the  lights  burnt  blue, 
till  we  scarce  could  see  across  the  darkened  hall. 
Presently,  however,  we  were  aware  of  a  mysterious 
apparition  —  seemingly  an  incarnation  of  the  gloom 
—  in  the  shape  of  a  gigantic  extinguisher,  about 


DRESDEN  DIVERSIONS.  289 

seven  feet  in  height.  This  spectre  glided  in  silence 
thrice  around  the  room,  to  slow  music,  bestowing 
upon  each  lady  a  small  roll  of  paper  containing  a 
sugar-plum  and  an  amative  epigram.  The  last 
round  having  been  completed,  the  ghostly  extin- 
guisher vanished  as  mysteriously  as  it  appeared  — 
seemed  to  put  itself  out  in  fact  —  and  then  the 
lights  suddenly  resumed  their  brilliancy.  Some 
people  departed  after  this  and  we  were  of  the 
number,  after  a  melting  farewell  scene  with  Anna. 
She  told  us,  the  next  afternoon  —  and  a  touch  of 
paleness  on  her  cheek  confirmed  the  tale  —  that  she 
had  danced  till  six  that  morning.  And  then  she 
sat  down  to  the  pian6,  and  regretfully  touched  the 
chords  of  Strauss's  waltz,  "  An  der  schoenen  blauen 
Donau." 

"  What,  Anna  !  "  we  exclaimed,  "  not  yet  enough 
of  dancing  ?  " 

"  Ach,  bewahr ! "  she  murmured  ;  and  with  a 
subtle  mixture  of  tact  and  coquetry,  she  hummed 
with  Goethe's  "  Mignon," 

"Dahin,  Dahin,  mocht'  Ich  mit  Dir,  0  mein  Geleibter,  zieh'n"!  " 

But  we  could  never  agree  which  of  us  it  was  she 
meant. 

19 


290  SAXON   STUDIES. 


vin. 

THERE  are  diversions  of  war  as  well  as  of  peace. 
At  all  times  in  history  the  sight  of  blood,  human 
or  bestial,  has  been  delightful  to  mankind ;  sym- 
bolic, I  suppose,  of  the  cruel  scoffing  spirit  which 
would  rend  asunder  the  holy  mysteries  of  nature, 
and  discover  her  vital  secrets  to  all  eyes  rude 
enough  to  look  upon  them.  What  siren  was  ever 
so  seductive  to  entice  men  to  their  harm  as  is  the 
voice  of  a  brother's  blood  crying  to  heaven  ? 

We  cannot  be  long  in  Dresden  without  meeting 
about  the  streets,  and  at  the  cafes  and  beer-saloons, 
specimens  of  a  guild  which  is  peculiar  to  Germany, 
and  not  likely  to  be  exported.  Their  leading 
traits  are  tolerably  well  known,  having  been  dili- 
gently described  by  travellers  ever  since  "  Hype- 
rion." They  pace  the  streets,  proud,  in  a  striking 
costume,  of  which  the  only  invariable  features  are 
a  pair  of  high  boots,  reaching  six  or  seven  inches 
above  the  knee,  which,  like  snow-shoes,  cannot  be 
properly  worn  without  practice ;  a  round  cap,  four 
inches  in  diameter,  and  an  inch  and  a  half  deep, 


DRESDEN  DIVERSIONS.  291 

clinging  by  invisible  means  to  the  northeast  cor- 
ner of  the  head  ;  and  a  striped  ribbon  crossing  the 
chest  from  the  shoulder  to  the  hip.  They  swing  a 
light  cane  ill  one  hand,  stare  the  passer-by  boldly 
in  the  eye,  puff  tobacco-smoke  in  the  ladies'  faces, 
and  are  very  high-spirited  and  quarrelsome.  On 
cheek  and  brow  are  scars  from  an  inch  to  four 
inches  in  length,  which  it  is  no  part  of  their  re- 
ligion to  conceal.  They  are  inclined  to  monopolize 
the  sidewalks,  and  to  hector  it  in  the  beer-gardens. 
They  are  of  that  undesirable  age,  between  sixteen 
and  twenty-three,  through  which,  as  through  a  mi- 
asmal  swamp,  mankind  is  condemned  to  pass  on 
its  way  to  better  things. 

Yes,  these  are  the  University  students  —  or  at 
least,  students  from  the  Mining  College  in  Frei- 
berg, a  curious  old  town  some  twenty  miles  from 
Dresden.  The  strong  class  spirit  of  these  young 
fellows,  and  their  superstitious  observance  of  anti- 
quated forms  and  customs,  undeniably  makes  them 
an  interesting  study,  the  more  because  it  seems 
unlikely  that  they  can  exist  many  years  longer  in 
their  pristine  quaintness.  The  vital  essence  of  the 
"  Kneipe  "  is  its  vast  absurdity ;  and  its  attraction 
to  outsiders  lies  in  the  startling  contrast  between 
its  laws  and  customs,  its  costumes  and  its  creeds, 
and  those  of  the  present  day.  We  cannot  expect 


292  SAXON   STUDIES. 

it  to  hold  its  own  in  the  teeth  of  modern  innova- 
tions and  refinements,  military  laws,  science,  per- 
secutions, and  republican  despotisms.  Its  dying 
aroma  is  being  even  now  exhaled. 

Between  the  soldiers  and  the  students  there  has 
always  subsisted  a  hatred  and  rivalry,  wherein  the 
former  have  generally  the  advantage.  There  is  no 
assignable  cause  for  this  feud,  unless  it  be  that  the 
students  fight  with  the  Schlaeger  and  the  officers 
with  the  broadsword.  In  extreme  cases,  however, 
both  parties  use  pistols,  which  put  them  on  more 
equal  footing.  A  regiment  -  of  infantry  was  form- 
erly quartered  at  Freiberg,  much  to  the  discontent 
of  the  thousand  or  more  students  residing  there. 
Collisions  were  frequent ;  and  at  length  an  officer 
mortally  affronted  a  Bursch,  and  in  the  consequent 
meeting,  shot  his  opponent  dead.  Hereupon  an 
indignation  gathering  of  all  the  Kneipen  ;  and  the 
next  day  the  officer  was  the  recipient  of  no  less 
than  a  thousand  distinct  summonses  to  the  field 
of  honor  —  weapons,  pistols.  Not  only,  therefore, 
did  he  stand  a  thousand,  chances  to  one  of  being 
killed,  but  —  supposing  him  passed  through  such  a 
hell-fire  unscathed  —  he  must  bear  through  life  the 
not  entirely  enviable  reputation  of  having  slaughtered 
a  thousand  and  one  human  beings,  and  depopu- 
lated a  college.  A  council  of  war  was  held,  re- 


DRESDEN  DIVERSIONS.  293 

suiting  in  the  transmission  to  the  student  cham- 
pions of  the  apologies  of  the  regiment,  and  the 
withdrawal  of  the  latter  from  Freiberg,  which  thus 
vindicated  its  name. 

But  such  serious  affairs  as  this  are  very  rare. 
Duelling  among  the  students  is  regarded  as  a 
means  of  culture  and  a  sign  of  good  breeding ;  it 
forms  an  important  part  of  the  routine  of  Univer- 
sity discipline  ;  and  a  scar  or  two  —  or  a  dozen,  if 
possible  —  are  quite  as  conducive  to  the  credit  of  a 
graduate  as  his  diploma.  Duelling  meetings  are 
held  between  rival  corps  several  times  a  year,  and 
champions  are  matched  against  one  another,  not  by 
reason  of  personal  enmity,  but  according  to  their 
prowess  —  as  we  would  match  two  college  boys  to 
row  a  single  scull  race.  A  spice  of  genuine  hos- 
tility between  the  duellists  is  not,  however,  ob- 
jected to  ;  and  doubtless  it  is  quite  as  well  to  fight 
out  petty  quarrels  and  heart-burnings  with  the 
Schlaeger  as  to  promote  their  unhealthy  growth  by 
a  diet  of  bad  language  and  morbid  backbitings. 
My  observation  leads  me  to  the  conclusion  that  a 
sound  bout  at  fisticuffs  is  better  than  either  ;  but 
fisticuffing  would  soon  put  an  end  to  the  Kneipe 
system,  and  to  that  peculiar  code  of  etiquette, 
morality,  and  refinement  which  it  inculcates  on  the 
student  mind.  We  must  recollect,  moreover,  that 


294  SAXON   STUDIES. 

the  sword  renders  the  small  fist  as  dangerous  as 
the  big  one  ;  and  since  what  is  known  to  Anglo- 
Saxons  as  fajr  play  is  but  dimly  apprehended  by 
the  German  intellect,  perhaps  this  safeguard  of  the 
weak  against  the  strong  is  not  unimportant. 

It  is  curious  how  the  periodical  shedding  of  a 
little  blood  organizes  and  vitalizes  these  guilds.  In 
all  ways,  blood  is  the  strongest  cement  between 
man  and  man.  Armies  would  soon  thirst  to  death 
if  blood  were  denied  them;  nor  are  elaborate  disci- 
pline and  forms  of  behavior  anywhere  so  rigorously 
maintained  as  where  the  rules  are  written  with  a 
bloody  pen.  The  reason  is  perhaps  not  far  to 
seek.  Bloodshed,  pure  and  simple,  is  vulgar,  dis- 
gusting, and  brutal.  Nothing  else  has  so  strong  a 
natural  tendency  to  degrade  and  coarsen  the  nat- 
ure. And  it  is  the  very  recognition  of  this  which 
leads  man  to  spend  his  best  skill  in  surrounding 
all  its  circumstances  with  the  utmost  pomp  and 
formality.  It  seems  to  be  a  universal  law  that 
those  things  which  have  the  strongest  native  ten- 
dency to  drag  mankind  to  chaos,  should  become  — 
by  virtue  of  the  struggle  they  compel  him  to  make 
against  their  destructive  power  —  his  most  potent 
educators.  The  completest  gentleman  —  the  holiest 
saint  —  is  he  who  has  withstood  the  strongest  temp- 
tation to  be  a  charlatan  or  a  devil. 


DRESDEN   DIVERSIONS.  295 

So  with  these  corps  students ;   there  is  not  much 
education,  one  would   suppose,  in   a   slit   nose,  or  a 
cheek    laid    open.     No  ;    but    the    processes   which 
lead  up  to  it  —  have  we  considered   them  ?     There 
is  the  fencing-school,  in  which,  at  all    events,  the 
hand    and   eye    are    trained    to   an    accuracy    and 
strength  to    which   they   had   else   been    strangers. 
There,  too,  is  the  corps   etiquette  to  be  learnt  and 
preserved  —  the  recognition  of  authority  and  order, 
and   the   careful   observance   of    self-respect.      Each 
one  is  responsible "  for   his   conduct   to  all  the   rest ; 
and  if  called  upon  to  defend  himself,  it  is  his  fault 
should   he   fail   successfully  to   withstand   his   chal- 
lenger.    As  to   physical   courage,  I  cannot   own   to 
any   great    faith   in   its   development  by   Schlaeger 
duels.     It  is   true   that  the   duellists   soon   cease  to 
fear   the   "  cuts "    and   even  learn   to   enjoy  them. 
But  then,  they  are  never  mortal,  and   seldom  very 
serious.     And  I  have  no  reason  to  believe  that  the 
most  inveterate  Schlaeger  duellist  is  any  braver  be- 
fore  a  pistol   than    other  men   might  be.     Special 
pleadings  on  questions  of  this    kind   are,    however, 
misleading  ;  since,  however  well  the  theory  may  be 
vindicated,   the    practice   always   belies   it   more   or 
less.     The  best   that   can   be   affirmed  with   regard 
to   corps   students   is,  that   we   are   not   obliged   to 
make  so   many  allowances  for  them  as  for  the  un- 
mitigated barbarians. 


296  SAXON   STUDIES. 


IX. 

PERHAPS  the  reader  would  like  to  be  present 
at  one  of  these  duel-meetings,  and  form  his  own" 
judgment  upon  the  matter.  We  turn  down  a  nar- 
row side-street,  whip  under  a  gloomy  archway, 
enter  by  a  glass-panelled  door,  and  find  ourselves  in 
a  dismal  beer-saloon.  Passing  through  this,  we  ar- 
rive at  an  inner  apartment,  to  which  a  peculiar 
knock  gives  us  admittance.  This  is  the  Kneipe- 
room,  where  the  corps  is  to  rendezvous  before  pro- 
ceeding to  the  field  of  honor.  It  is  narrow,  dark, 
and  smoky,  blearing  out  through  its  one  grimy 
window  into  a  backyard.  The  floor  is  strewn 
with  a  little  white  sand ;  a  rough  wooden  table, 
bearing  marks  of  age  and  hard  usage,  extends  the 
length  of  the  room ;  wooden  benches  to  match,  and 
unpretending  chairs.  The  walls  are  adorned  with 
the  coat-of-arms  of  the  corps,  emblazoned  in  gold 
and  colors  ;  round  it  are  arranged  a  score  of  old 
iSchlaeger,  like  rays  of  a  central  sun.  Elsewhere 
are  hung  up  enormous  drinking-horns,  such  as  King 
Olaf  might  have  used,  with  inscriptions  on  their 


DRESDEN  DIVERSIONS.  297 

silver  mountings.  Here  are  trophies  of  all  sorts  ; 
pictures,  too,  representing  famous  duels;  and  photo- 
graphs of  past  and  present  members,  taken  singly 
or  in  groups.  Traditions  are  jealously  preserved 
among  the  Burschen,  and  some  of  the  societies  are 
of  very  great  antiquity  ;  so  that  the  Bursch  of 
to-day  may  see  upon  the  wall  the  sword  with 
which  his  great-grandfather  fought,  and  drink  him- 
self over-seas  out  of  the  ancestral  Schoppen. 

Has  the  reader  ever  held  a  ScJdaeger  in  his 
hand,  and  examined  it  ?  They  have  a  large  bas- 
ket-hilt, guarding  the  hand  completely  ;  the  blade 
is  straight,  and  about  three  feet  in  length  —  a  thin, 
narrow  strip  of  soft  steel ;  pliant  but  not  elastic. 
It  is  a  light  weapon,  easily  wielded ;  were  it 
heavy  as  the  ordinary  broadsword,  the  muscles  of 
an  average  Bursch  would  soon  tire  beneath  its 
weight,  for  the  attitude  in  fighting  is  an  exces- 
sively wearisome  one  at  best.  Its  deficiencies  in 
heaviness  and  stiffness  are  fully  compensated  by 
the  razor-keenness  of  the  blade ;  the  soft  steel 
taking  a  marvellously  fine  edge.  The  point  is 
rounded,  and  the  edge  extends  sixteen  inches  down 
the  front  of  the  blade,  and  half  as  far  down  the 
back.  Both  blade  and  hilt  are  gallantly  scarred 
and  hacked ;  from  these  the  blood-stains  have  been 
wiped  away;  but  the  "armor"  shows  enough  of 


298  SAXON  STUDIES. 

such  to  sate  tne  most  sanguinary  warrior.  The 
gore  of  hundreds  —  aye,  of  thousands,  is  encrusted 
on  these  breastplates  and  cuishes,  and  presents  a 
spectacle  really  ghastly,  and  calculated,  one  would 
suppose,  to  dampen  the  courage  of  a  virgin  duel- 
list. A  pig-sticker's  apron  would  be  more  reassur- 
ing. But  this  armor,  excellent  in  other  respects, 
can  never  be  cleansed ;  it  consists  of  stout  buck- 
skin pads,  protecting  the  throat,  right  arm,  and 
the  whole  right  side  of  the  body  to  the  knee. 
Iron  armor  would  speedily  destroy  the  fine  edge  of 
the  Schlaeger ;  though  I  doubt  whether  it  would 
be  found  any  heavier  than  these  enormous  pads, 
and  stiffer  or  more  awkward  it  certainly  could  not 
be.  The  pads  detract  much  from  the  aspect  of 
the  contest ;  a  polished  cuirass  and  glittering  arms 
would  be  more  inspiring,  and  the  blood  would 
seem  more  noble  when  shed  on  steel  than  when 
absorbed  and  stiffened  in  dirty  leather.  There  is 
another  objection.  The  rattle  of  a  sword  against 
a  steel  breastplate  is  a  martial  sound  ;  it  kindles 
the  imagination  and  inspires  the  courage ;  but  the 
"  flap  "  of  the  blade  against  the  buckskin  pad  re- 
minds us  of  nothing  more  dignified  than  carpet- 
beating.  If  we  close  our  eyes  upon  the  bloody 
scene,  and  only  listen  to  the  fray,  we  are  trans- 
ported to  the  backyard  of  our  childhood's  home, 


DRESDEN  DIVERSIONS.  299 

where  John  and  Bridget  are  knocking  clouds  of 
dust  out  of  the  parlor  carpet.  The  illusion  is 
heightened  by  the  fact  that  the  warriors,  like 
John  and  Bridget,  deliver  their  blows  alternately, 
in  rapid  and  measured  succession.  "  Flap  —  flap  ! 
—  flap  —  flap  !  "  It  is  carpet-beating,  for  all  the 
world  !  However,  we  must  not  carp  and  criticise 
so  much.  Use  is  itself  a  beauty  ;  and  since  the 
leathern  pad  answers  its  special  purpose  better  than 
anything  else  could,  it  must  appear  beautiful  to  the 
unprejudiced  observer. 

Besides  the  furniture  and  ornaments,  the  room 
contains  a  dozen  or  more  young  men.  high-booted, 
round-capped,  and  ribboned.  Some  of  them  are  to 
be  the  heroes  of  the  coming  tournament,  though 
we  might  not  learn  as  much  from  the  Indian  stoi- 
cism of  their  countenances.  Probably  the  signs  of 
battle  will  be  plainer  after  it  is  over  than  before- 
hand. The  students  are  not  all  Germans ;  there 
are  Hungarians,  Poles,  Turks,  an  American,  and  a 
couple  of  Russians.  One  of  the  latter  is  vice- 
president  of  the  corps  —  a  tall,  burly  fellow,  with 
a  rough  face  and  small  gray  eyes  ;  but  when  he 
speaks  —  and  he  does  so  in  four  languages  —  we 
perceive  an  unexpected  courtesy  and  refinement  in 
his  manner.  His  familiarity  with  the  English 


300  SAXON  STUDIES. 

tongue  is  astonishing ;   he  has  even  caught  the  col- 
loquialism of  the  day. 

"  Do  we  fear  the  spectacle  of  blood  ? "  he  asks 
us;  "does  it  nauseate-  us?  he  should  say;"  and 
he  proceeds  to  tell  us  a  gory  tale  or  two,  by  way 
of  gentle  initiation  into  the  horrors  we  are  soon  to 
witness.  Once  he  was  present  at  a  notable  duel 
between  two  renowned  fencers ;  and  for  a  long 
time  the  advantage  was  on  neither  side.  "  No  cut 
had  been  given ;  it  was  feared  that  their  skill 
would  prove  too  perfect  —  that  there  would  be  no 
blood.  Just  then,  however,  Fritz  appeared  sud- 
denly to  grow  an  inch  taller ;  his  wrist  extended 
itself  admirably  —  ah !  Karl  was  hit.  So  true  and 
swift  was  the  blow  that  Karl  himself  knew  not,  at 
first,  that  he  was  overcome ;  only  when  he  went 
to  speak,  and  the  blood  poured  into  his  mouth,  did 
he  become  aware  of  it.  A  sponge  was  brought ; 
the  blood  wiped  away  ;  when  lo  !  Karl  had  no 
end  of  his  nose.  "  Du  lieber  Gott !  where  is  then 
the  nose  .which  Karl  had  lost  ?  All  search  for  it 
—  it  is  still  in  vain  —  the  nose  —  the  nose  had 
disappeared !  Then  cries  out  all  of  a  sudden  Fritz 
— "  The  dog  !  the  dog  !  Potz  tausend  Donnerwet- 
ter !  look  once  at  the  dog."  One  sees  the  dog 
make  like  a  cough,  with  something  in  mouth. 
One  runs  to  him,  catch  him,  pound  him  on  the 


DRESDEN   DIVERSIONS.  301 

back,  lift  him  by  the  tail  and  shake.  Ach  !  lo  at 
last  the  nose,  the  poor  nose,  the  end  of  the  nose 
which  Karl  had  lost.  Then  Karl  takes  that  end 
and  sticks  it  to  his  face  —  to  the  root,  you  see." 

"  Yes,"  we  exclaim  breathlessly,  seeing  the  nar- 
rator pause  ;  "  well,  did  it  grow  on  again  ?  " 

"  But  surely  yes.  For  seven  days  it  is  held  con- 
tinually on ;  then  is  the  bandage  removed,  and  the 
nose  is  whole  once  more.  But  alas!  an  unlooked- 
for  misfall  has  occurred." 

"  How  so  ?  " 

"  In  the  haste  of  replacing  that  lost  end,  the 
poor  Karl  has  it  upside  down  applied  !  It  is  now 
too  late  to  alter  —  so  grows  it  to  this  day.  Karl 
was  before  a  handsome  man;  he  has  still  Creist  — 
the  vivacity  ;  but  the  profile  —  one  finds  it  irregu- 
lar." 

I  should  not  have  ventured  to  repeat  this  story 
at  length,  had  I  not  the  best  of  reasons  for  believ- 
ing it  true.  I  heard  it  not  long  afterwards  from  the 
lips  of  the  redoubtable  Karl  himself,  and  when,  at 
the  conclusion,  he  turned  his  head  pensively  aside, 
the  "  irregularity  "  was  unmistakable. 

This  was  by  no  means  the  only  tale  of  blood 
unfolded  by  our  courteous  Russian  ;  but  we  cannot 
take  the  responsibility  of  repeating  any  more  of 
them.  It  was  not  without  a  touch  of  pride  that 


302  SAXON   STUDIES. 

he  recounted  the  exploit  of  a  countryman  of  his 
own,  who,  it  would  appear,  was  possessed  of  more 
fortitude  than  skill.  In  the  first  bout  his  adversa- 
ry's point  caught  in  the  corner  of  Snipitoff  s  mouth, 
and  created  a  permanent  grin  on  that  side  three 
inches  in  length,  laying  bare  all  the  teeth  in  the 
right  jaw.  Snipitoff,  however,  was  no  way  dis- 
couraged, but  intimated  his  resolve  to  fight  it  out. 
The  contest  was  therefore  resumed  ;  and  Snipitoff's 
adversary,  who  seems  to  have  been  gifted  with  an 
almost  unreasonable  sensitiveness  to  proportion,  next 
inserted  his  blade  in  the  left  corner  of  the  gallant 
Russian's  mouth,  and  brought  it  out  at  the  ear. 
This  brought  the  affair  to  a  termination  which  was 
considered  to  reflect  equal  credit  on  both  sides. 
The  mouth  —  which  now  measured  from  corner  to 
corner  a  trifle  over  nine  inches  —  was  sewed  up, 
with  the  exception  of  about  three  inches  in  the 
middle ;  and  unconquerable  Snipitoff  then  called 
for  beer,  and  drank  until  —  to  use  the  forcible  ex- 
pression of  our  courteous  informant — "his  back 
teeth  were  under  water "  for  three  days.  The 
practice  of  drinking  heavily  after  receiving  a  cut  is 
universal  among  the  duellists,  and  is  indulged  in 
by  way  of  delaying  the  healing  of  the  wound,  and 
thus  perpetuating  the  glorious  scar. 

While    isuch   tales  are  telling,  we    are    otherwise 


DRESDEN  DIVERSIONS.  303 

regaled  with  beer,  bread  and  cheese,  and  sausage, 
whereof  the  long  table  has  a  plentiful  load.  Per- 
haps, however,  after  such  fare  as  our  imagination 
has  been  treated  to,  we  care  not  so  much  for  the 
nourishment  of  the  flesh.  In  that  case,  the  an- 
nouncement that  the  hour  for  setting  forth  has  ar- 
rived will  be  not  unwelcome ;  we  gladly  issue  from 
our  dark  and  musty  quarters,  and  are  soon  thread- 
ing the  outskirts  of  the  city.  The  "  field  of  honor  " 
is  some  two  miles  off ;  and  is  only  metaphorically 
a  field ;  literally  it  is  an  old  Gasthaus,  deserted  at 
this  Lenten  season,  but  hired  by  the  Kneipen  for 
the  occasion.  We  may  here  observe  that  Schlaeger 
duelling  is  illegal.  But  prohibitory  laws  against 
blood-drinking,  like  other  prohibitory  laws,  only  aug- 
ment the  unnatural  thirst,  and  add  a  charm  in  the 
ingenuity  requisite  to  secure  its  gratification;  en- 
couraging the  dipsomaniac  to  absorb  a  gallon  where 
he  would  otherwise  be  satisfied  with  a  gill.  The  law 
is  also  serviceable,  as  a  species  of  persecution,  in  con- 
solidating the  Kneipen,  and  riveting  the  union  of  its 
members ;  the  State,  as  if  the  cement  of  blood  were 
not  bond  secure  enough,  doubles  its  strength  by 
making  its  use  unlawful.  Ah  !  there  is  much  subtle 
wisdom  concealed  beneath  the  plain  outside  of  Saxon 
legislation. 


304  SAXON  STUDIES. 


THE  Gasthaus  is  a  forlorn  and  dilapidated  old 
pile,  overgrown  of  bulk,  with  countless  melancholy 
windows,  and  streaks  of  greenish  damp  meandering 
down  its  plaster  walls  from  eaves  to  basement. 
Within,  we  climb  an  aged  winding  staircase,  and 
presently  find  ourselves  in  a  large  upper  room,  of 
great  length  in  proportion  to  its  breadth,  wain- 
scoted, with  tarnished  chandeliers  depending  from 
the  ceiling,  and  an  iron  stove  warming  its  farther 
extremity.  The  tables  and  most  of  the  chairs 
have  been  removed.  The  floor,  especially  at  that 
spot  where  blood  is  to  be  shed,  is  strewn  with 
sawdust.  A  crowd  of  upwards  of  a  hundred  stu- 
dents are  standing  about  in  knots,  discussing  the 
instant  fray.  They  are  not  a  physically  noble 
race ;  many  faces  are  marked  with  disease  la- 
tent or  developed,  and  the  figures  are  ill-hung, 
awkward,  or  weakly.  No  other  land,-  perhaps, 
could  show  so  large  an  assemblage  of  young  men 
with  so  small  a  leaven  of  physical  manliness.  Half 
of  these  wear  —  not  the  sportive  eye-glass  —  but  the 


DRESDEN   DIVERSIONS.  305 

sober  earnestness  of  spectacles.  There  is  a  fortune 
for  oculists  in  Saxony ;  and  I  should  not  wonder 
if  a  good  part  of  the  current  belief  in  the  national 
learning  might  be  traced  to  the  sage  and  studious 
aspect  bestowed  by  these  semi-universal  spectacles. 
As  a  matter  of  fact,  however,  their  genesis  is  from 
bad  diet,  and  perhaps  from  some  quality  in  the 
atmosphere.  Most  foreigners  who  have  lived  long 
in  Saxony  will  have  found  their  eyesight  more  or 
less  impaired. 

We  glance  with  some  curiosity  at  the  champions 
who  are  to  win  their  laurels  to-day,  or  add  to 
them.  The  two  youngest  —  boys  of  about  sixteen 
—  look  a  little  pale;  and  we  may  observe  a  tri- 
fling nervousness  beneath  the  gayety  of  that  young 
American,  who  is  destined  to  flesh  his  maiden 
sword  this  morning.  But  as  for  the  rest,  old  du- 
ellists all,  their  faces  are  quite  impenetrable.  None 
-  of  them  are  in  what  we  call  fighting  condition ; 
the  Saxon  makes  it  a  point  of  etiquette  to  live  as 
loosely  as  possible  for  some  weeks  before  and  after 
his  duel ;  and  if  he  be  a  trifle  beery  even  at  the 
hour  of  engagement,  it  is  set  down  to  his  credit. 
Blood  is  the  thing  wanted,  and  scars  that  will  not 
fade  away  ;  and  he  is  most  properly  in  condition 
whose  veins  are  most  plethoric,  and  whose  flesh  is 
least  apt  to  heal. 

20 


306  SAXON   STUDIES. 

Well,  the  hour  has  struck.  The  landlord,  a 
stout,  short-winded  personage,  of  demeanor  at  once 
servile  and  excitable,  trots  in  for  the  last  time  to 
see  that  all  is  as  the  gentlemen  wish;  and  then 
the  door  is  closed,  and  the  company  gathers  in  a 
wide  ring  about  the  battle-field.  Those  two  pale 
boys,  who  are  to  open  the  proceedings,  are  arming 
with  the  assistance  of  their  seconds ;  and  most  cu- 
rious is  the  constrast  between  their  bloodless  and 
pathetically  inoffensive  faces,  and  the  horrid  -arms, 
stiff  with  ancient  gore,  in  which  they  stand  pil- 
loried. Besides  the  system  of  leather  pads  which 
we  have  already  examined,  they-  wear  a  kind  of 
spectacles,  or  iron  guards  for  the  eyes ;  and  these 
lend  an  indescribably  gaunt  and  demoniac  quality 
to  their  expression. 

Are  the  champions  prepared  ?  Let  them  enter 
the  lists  —  a  space  between  two  chalk  lines  twelve 
feet  apart.  Within  this  space,  they  must  confine 
their  struggle.  Here  they  stand,  the  sword  arm 
supported  by  the  seconds,  lest  the  weight  of  the 
armor  should  needlessly  fatigue  it.  The  president 
now  steps  forward,  inquires  the  names  and  desig- 
nations of  the  combatants,  and  is  informed  thereof 
by  the  seconds  —  all  in  conventional  phrases.  The 
president  then  states  the  rules  which  must  govern 
the  contest ;  and  then  gives  his  orders  in  a  sharp, 
peremptory  tone :  — 


DRESDEN   DIVERSIONS.  307 

"  Auf  die  Mensur !  " 

The  warriors  accordingly  toe  the  scratch. 

"  Los !  " 

And  the  carpet-beating  begins. 

The  position  is  a  peculiar  one,  owing  to  the  cir- 
cumstance that  the  head  is  the  only  part  attacked. 
The  right  arm,  pads  and  all,  is  arched  above  and 
a  little  in  front  of  the  head :  the  Schlaeger,  its 
point  tending  downwards,  continues  the  arch  of  the 
arm.  The  arm  is  not  moved  at  any  time  during 
the  bout ;  the  cuts  being  made  by  a  rapid  and 
elastic  turn  of  the  wrist,  whereby  the  blade  is 
swung  over  or  under  the  adversary's  guard.  The 
parrying  is  all  done  with  the  padded  right  arm, 
which  comes  in  contact  with  the  flat  of  the  attack- 
ing sword  :  and  the  safety  of  the  duellists'  heads 
depends  entirely  on  the  true  position  of  this  guard 
arm.  An  inch  too  low  or  too  high,  and  lo !  a 
bleeding  cheek  or  forehead. 

Meanwhile  our  young  heroes  are  at  work,  flap- 
ping away  manfully,  but  doing  no  execution.  Each 
makes  his  cut  alternately  with  the  other,  and  the 
"  recover "  is  instantaneous.  After  every  few 
strokes  the  seconds  interpose  their  swords,  and 
take  charge  of  their  principals'  right  arms  for  a 
score  of  seconds'  rest;  the  swords  are  straightened, 
and  if  their  edges  be  turned,  they  are  replaced 


308  SAXON   STUDIES. 

with  fresh  ones  from  a  great  bundle  of  them  lying 
in  yonder  chair.  The  heads  of  the  combatants  are, 
moreover,  carefully  searched  for  cuts ;  with  a  know- 
ing gravity  of  manner  which  reminds  us  of  certain 
transactions  in  the  monkeys'  cage  at  the  zoological 
gardens.  There  is  no  find,  however,  and  work  is 
resumed  with  fresh  vigor.  '"  Flap-flap  !  flap-flap  !  " 

But  this  duel  is  destined  to  be  a  failure.  The 
spectators  become  first  apprehensive,  then  depressed. 
The  heads  are  examined  with  a  plaintive  anxiety. 
The  fifteen  minutes  —  beyond  which  no  duel  may 
extend  —  have  elapsed.  There  is  no  blood.  The 
unfortunate  duellists  drop  their  swords,  kiss  each 
other  as  the  law  commands,  and  are  hurried  away 
by  their  seconds  to  disarm.  No  scars  for  them. 

But  the  next  combat  is  truly  a  refreshing  exhi- 
bition. Our  young  American  is  matched  against  a 
full-blooded  Saxon.  It  is  gratifying  to  have  this 
palpable  assurance  that  our  barbarous  countrymen 
are  capable  —  after  due  transplantation  and  train- 
ing —  of  rivalling  the  culture  of  the  philosophic 
Germans.  May  his  good  genius  procure  him  a 
scar  so  deep  that  the  next  fifty  years  —  should  he 
live  so  long — shall  fail  to  obliterate  it. 

The  combat  begins  with  the  same  formalities  as 
before  ;  but  ere  the  "  flap-flap ! "  has  lasted  five 
minutes,  a  lock  of  wiry  brown  hair  is  seen  to 


DRESDEN  DIVERSIONS.  309 

jump  suddenly  from  the  American's  head,  and  im- 
mediately a  stream  of  scarlet  blood  rushes  out  of 
doors,  painting  one  side  of  his  face  and  dripping 
on  his  gorget.  He  looks  surprised  and  rather  re- 
lieved. So,  this  is  being  cut,  is  it  ?  Well,  it 
doesn't  hurt  so  much,  after  all;  no  more  than  to 
hack  one's  self  shaving.  He  is  seated  in  a  chair 
and  sponged  off,  though  the  blood  continues  to  flow 
rapidly,  giving  him  a  very  grim  aspect.  Will  he 
continue  ?  Oh,  certainly ;  just  beginning  to  feel 
like  it.  So  the  two  stand  up  to  each  other  once 
more.  The  ring  of  spectators  draws  closer  :  they 
have  tasted  blood  —  we  may  know  it  by  the  dila- 
tion of  their  eyes,  and  their  eager  parted  lips. 
Blood,  brothers  !  stand  ready,  we  shall  have  another 
draught  immediately.  Be  it  Saxon  or  American, 
what  difference  ?  Either  is  sweet  to  the  taste  of 
the  philosopher.  Oh,  blood  ! 

This  time  the  aspect  of  probabilities  is  somewhat 
changed.  The  American's  blood  is  not  only  out 
but  up,  whereas  the  Saxon  appears  somewhat  out, 
of  sorts  ;  being,  perhaps,  sickened  at  the  gory  locks 
and  red-dripping  cheek  of  his  adversary.  He  in- 
dulges, it  may  be,  in  a  flitting  imagination  of  him- 
self in  like  condition.  In  that  moment  his  guard 
wavers  a  trifle  from  its  right  position:  over  comes 
the  sharp  blade  catches  him  beneath  the  nostril, 


310  SAXON   STUDIES.  x 

and  slices  open  his  cheek  to  the  temple.  The  sec- 
onds strike  up  the  swords.  How  the  man  bleeds ! 
already  •  there  is  a  pool  on  the  floor.  The  surgeon 
sponges  and  examines,  and  announces  a  cut  four 
and  a  half  inches  in  length.  Happy  Saxon  !  •  Just 
at  present,  however,  the  abundance  of  his  good 
fortune  a.  little  overcomes  him.  He  sinks  back  in 
his  chair  with  a  dingy  pallor  in  his  face,  sharply 
contrasting  with  the  dark  blood  which  issues  from 
it.  He  will  not  be  able  to  continue  the  duel :  he 
cannot  even  rise  to  salute  his  opponent,  who  must 
therefore  kiss  him  where  he  sits.  Did  ever  two 
more  unlovely  countenances  exchange  such  a  token 
of  affection  ?  It  is  an  odd  sight,  and  we  cannot 
help  wishing  they  had  restrained  their  ardors  un- 
til somebody  had  washed  their  faces. 

There  are  six  duels  still  to  come  off ;  and  though 
one  is  pretty  much  like  another,  we  undoubtedly 
would  like  to  stand,  by  and  see  all  twelve  heads 
carved  to  ribbons.  But  just  as  the  next  pair  are 
got  to  work,  and  our  eyes  are  following  each  blow 
with  silent  expectation,  there  is  heard  a  scurrying 
and  a  scrambling  up  the  stairs  outside.  The  door 
bursts  open,  and  in  flies  the  landlord,  his  eyes  far 
out  of  their  sockets. 

"  Polizei-mein'-Herren !  Polizei-mein-Gott-in-Him- 
mel !  Ach  !  Polizei-ist-da !  " 


DRESDEN   DIVERSIONS.  311 

The  police !  In  an  instant,  the  ring  has  van- 
ished ;  there  is  turning  this  way  and  that,  voices 
and  counter-voices.  Off  run  the  wounded,  their 
tell-tale  wounds  but  half  sewed  up,  and  have  van- 
ished through  a  back  entrance.  A  loud  crash  of 
glass  causes  many  a  bold  heart  to  throb  —  pshaw ! 
it  is  only  that  bundle  of  Schlaeger,  which  some 
thoughtful  person  has  sent  flying  through  the  win- 
dow. Now  a  hasty  tub  of  sawdust  veils  the  guilty 
floor.  Tables  start  up  as  if  by  magic  with  glasses 
of  beer  upon  them,  and  peaceful  students  quaffing 
the  same.  This  is  not  a  tournament,  but  a  quiet 
picnic  in  the  country  solitudes ;  here  is  no  blood, 
save  such  as  flows  in  decorous  pulsations  through 
its  proper  channel.  Enter,  O  police !  we  receive 
you  with  the  frankness  of  innocence. 

Well  —  but  the  police  do  not  enter.  How  long 
is  this  suspense  to  last  ?  Can  our  worthy  landlord 
have  been  mistaken  ?  or  would  he  play  a  joke 
upon  us?  or  was  he  speculating  for. the  price  of  a 
few  score  of  glasses  of  beer  ?  at  all  events,  it  was 
a  false  alarm ;  no  rude  preservers  of  the  peace  are 
here  to  offer  us  violence,  and  the  games  may  pro- 
ceed. 

But,  for  our  own  private  parts,  either  the  fright,  or 
the  reaction,  or  some  more  hidden  cause,  has  dulled 
our  appetite  for  further  feasting  in  this  kind.  We 


312  SAXON   STUDIES. 

have  seen  blood ;  and  were  we  to  remain  to  the 
very  end,  they  could  not  show  us  anything  more 
interesting.  Let  us  therefore,  depart,  and  strive  to 
introduce  Schlaeger  fighting  into  the  colleges  of  our 
own  land,  in  place  of  boating,  base  ball,  cricket, 
and  such  like  unmeaning  diversions. 

There  are  other  amusements  in  Dresden  ;  but 
after  this,  to  treat  of  them  would  be  an  anticlimax. 
We  must  leave  the  skating-pgnd,  and  the  boating 
and  the  horse-races,  and  the  minor  theatres  —  yes, 
and  the  American  and  English  clubs,  which  how- 
ever, are  quite  as  much  of  a  business  as  of  an 
amusement  —  we  must  leave  these  to  future  histo- 
rians or  to  silence.  But  blood  will  tell,  and  must  be 
told  about ;  and  let  us  hope  the  moral  of  the  tale  will 
not  be  disregarded. 


TYPES    CIVIL    AND    UNCIVIL. 


CHAPTER  VI. 

TYPES  CIVIL  AND  UNCIVIL. 
I. 

THAT  the  German  army  is  the  finest  in  the  world ; 
and  of  that  army,  that  the  Saxon  division  is  the  most 
commendable,  is  a  proposition  universally  admitted 
as  proved.  The  world  is  ancient ;  there  have  been 
many  ages  and  races  of  men ;  but  of  all,  the  Saxon 
soldier  is  the  flower.  It  were  rash  to  affirm  that  the 
future  may  not  produce  a  warrior  better  yet  than 
he ;  the  automatic  theory  holds  out  high  hopes  of  pos- 
sible progress  in  this  direction.  When  we  shall  have 
disembarrassed  oui*selves  of  the  notion  that  we  live 
as  we  please,  a  rigid  system  of  discipline  will  become 
our  dearest  comfort ;  for  it  will  tend  most  strongly 
to  put  us  out  of  the  way  of  fancying  our  actions 
self-willed.  The  new  gospel  shall  be  the  manual  of 
drill  and  tactics.  What  a  humiliation  to  man's 
conceit — the  thought  that  soldiers  are  nearer  the 
eternal  verities  than  any  other  bodies !  Let  the  fools 
of  sentiment  hasten  to  range  themselves  on  the  win- 
ning side.  But,  whatever  our  haste,  the  Saxons  are 


316  SAXON  STUDIES. 

still  ahead  of  us.  Though  they  may  not,  as  yet, 
have  put  in  words  the  awful  truth  of  automatism, 
they  have  nevertheless  done  more  to  verify  it  in 
nature  and  conduct  than  have  the  philosophers  who 
set  the  theory  going. 

It  must  not  be  forgotten,  however,  that  their  pre- 
eminence is  owing  quite  as  much  to  the  age  they 
live  in  as  to  their  intrinsic  quality.  In  short,  we 
are  called  on  to  admire  an  exquisite  harmony  of 
times  and  traits.  These  sons  of  the  drill-book  would 
scarcely  have  suited  the  days  when  personal  prowess 
was  an  essential  soldierly  requirement.  Their  best 
recommendation  to  the  modern,  and  still  more  to  the 
future,  recruiting-sergeant  must  be  their  unlikeness 
to  the  old  Greek  and  Roman  giants  of  sword  and 
spear.  Not  hot  blood  and  youthful  fervor  is  wanted  ; 
rather  a  thin,  colorless,  meek,  mechanical  habit. 
What  has  been  called  soul  and  individuality  is  to 
be  got  rid  of  ;  an  unbounded  stomach  for  discipline 
is  the  desideratum.  We  may  look  forward  to  the 
time  when  the  best  soldier  will  be  the  least  man,  — I 
speak  to  consenting  ears,  and  need  not,  therefore, 
pause  to  explain  the  paradox,  —  and  already  Napo- 
leons and  Hannibals  are  at  a  discount,  and  the  cry 
is  for  Moltkes.  As  for  Prince  Bismarck,  he  is  still 
too  much  himself  to  be  put  in  charge  of  the  army. 

It  was  observed   the  other  day,  in  regard  to  the 


TYPES   CIVIL    AND    UNCIVIL.  317 

boat-race,  that  such  was  the  minuteness  and  accu- 
racy wherewith  the  result  was  foretold,  there  was 
really  little  use  in  rowing  it:  it  was  won  and  lost 
long  before  it  started ;  and  will,  a  while  hereafter, 
be  calculated  before  an  intellectual  audience  on  the 
blackboard,  instead  of  being  uncomfortably  proved 
a  foregone  conclusion  on  the  river.  Thitherward, 
likewise,  tends  war.  When  the  soldiers  have  be- 
come unmitigated  puppets,'  and  so  afford  as  secure 
a  base  for  calculation  as  other  mechanical  material ; 
when  the  officers  have  grown  to  be  incarnations  of 
subtle  scientific  foresight,  fed  on  statistics  ;  shall  we 
not  be  beyond  the  folly  of  shedding  blood  and  burn- 
ing towns  otherwise  than  on  paper?  It  may  take 
a  little  more  time  to  write  a  campaign  than  to  fight 
it ;  but  after  one  side  has  mathematically  proved 
the  superiority  of  its  potentialities,  the  other  will 
find  it  all  the  easier  to  pay  its  indemnity.  In  fine, 
the  incubus  from  which  it  is  our  destiny  to  eman- 
cipate ourselves  is  action  —  vulgar,  physical  action. 
Brahma  shall  be  the  one  true  God,  and  Saxony  his 
chosen  Israel.  Far  off  his  coming  shines  —  very  far, 
perhaps ;  but  prognostics  favor  him. 

Meanwhile,  I  take  pleasure  in  •  repeating  that 
Saxon  soldiers  are  the  best  in  the  world.  They  can 
swallow  most  discipline.  They  submit  to  so  much 
stuffing  with  rules  and  regulations,  great  and  small, 


318  SAXON   STUDIES. 

that  little  of  the  original  creature  is  left  save  organic 
life  and  uniform.  They  are  a  docile  sort  of  Frank- 
ensteins.  This  is  well,  so  long  as  they  remain  in 
the  service;  but  picture  the  sad  plight  of  a  being 
thus  drained  of  his  proper  entrails,  and  inspired 
solely  by  the  breath  of  Mars,  when  Mars  no  longer 
needs  him !  Mars  re-creates  men  showily  enough  ; 
but  he  lacks  the  constancy  of  an  original  maker, 
and  by  and  by  leaves  his  re-creatures  dismally  in 
the  lurch.  Even  the  uniform  is  bereft  them.  Let 
who  becomes  a  soldier  reflect  that  he  enlists  for  life  ; 
and  whether  he  be  killed  in  his  first  battle,  or 
honorably  discharged  after  half  a  dozen  campaigns,, 
his  life  still  ceases  with  his  soldiership. 

It  would  be  edifying  to  contrast  Saxon  soldiers 
with  other  nations,  point  by  point,  and  so  arrive 
at  a  practical  comprehension  of  their  superiority. 
Much  is  signified  in  the  fact  that  their  captains  ad- 
dress them  as  "  children,"  while  we  Americans,  and 
our  English  friends,  try  to  inspire  our  warriors  by 
appeals  to  their  "  manhood."  Men,  forsooth  !  Such 
is  the  fruit  of  illogical  sentiment.  But  persist  in 
calling  a  person  child,  and  treating  him  so,  and 
presently  he  will  share  our  view  of  the  matter,  and 
thus  become  fit  for  the  camp.  But  my  business  is 
not  so  much  with  comparisons  as  with  the  incom- 
parable Saxon  soldier  himself. 


TYPES   CIVIL  AND   UNCIVIL.  319 


II. 


EVEN  his  uniform  is  admirable,  and,  after  the 
shoppy  productions  worn  by  our  Seventh  Regiments, 
and  still  more  by  English  Guards  and  Grenadiers, 
truly  refreshing.  It  is  mainly  dark,  the  darkness 
enhanced  by  narrow  lines  of  red  adown  the  leg  and 
round  throat  and  wrist.  His  head-gear,  though 
called  helmet  for  lack  of  a  better  name,  is  not  im- 
posing, but  eminently  practical ;  while  as  to  his  cap, 
it  is  positively  made  and  worn  to  cover  the  head, 
and  scarcely  inclines  more  to  one  ear  than  to  the 
other.  What  a  pregnant  subject  for  analysis,  by 
the  way,  is  that  matter  of  wearing  the  hat  aslant 
instead  of  upright !  Some  seer,  one  of  these  days, 
will  draw  a  deep  moral  from  it.  The  head  itself  is 
not  propped  fiercely  up  in  unrelenting  collar,  but  sits 
as  easily  as  the  heads  of  ordinary  men.  We  look  in 
vain  for  the  stiff-kneedness,  out-chestedness,  square- 
elbowedness,  high-mightiness,  which  we  are  accus- 
tomed to  associate  with  the  thought  of  things  mil- 
itary. This  model  child  of  battle  seems  so  com- 
fortable in  his  uniform,  he  might  have  been  born  in 


320  SAXON  STUDIES. 

it.  He  can  stoop,  kneel  down,  run,  or  vault  a  fence, 
without  bursting  a  button.  His  belt  is  leathern  — 
no  pipeclay  on  his  conscience.  He  can  be  very  dirty 
without  much  showing  it.  Padding  and  lacing  are 
unknown  —  at  least  to  the  private.  His  short  sword 
seems  as  natural  an  appendage  as  a  monkey's  tail ; 
he  would  look  maimed  without  it.  He  walks  the 
streets  —  with  measured  tread,  indeed,  for  he  is 
drilled  to  the  marrow,  but  —  with  an  infantile  self- 
unconsciousness  subversive  of  all  precedent.  He 
looks  of  a  race  distinct  from  the  civilian,  it  is  true, 
but  quite  at  home  in  his  distinction. 

Soberness  of  uniform  is  so  far  from  being  a  trifling 
matter  (things  being  as  they  are)  that,  should  the 
English  be  beaten  in  the  next  war,  they  may  safely 
lay  the  blame  on  their  own  red  coats.  In  the  time 
of  Marlborough  or  of  Wellington  these  may  have 
had  their  use  ;  but  nowadays,  scarlet,  added  to  the 
vicious  my-soul's-my-own  doctrine  which  even  yet 
obtains  but  too  widely,  gives  the  private  soldier  too 
much  of  an  opinion  of  himself.  He  esteems  him- 
self too  grand  a  being  to  be  cuffed  by  corporals,  and 
unceremoniously  bidden  to  right-about-face  and  pre- 
sent arms.  Moreover,  his  ruddy  splendors  attract 
the  feminine  eye  and  heart,  and  women  are  not 
wholesome  for  modern  warriors.  Such  individual 
inspiration  as  they  may  once  have  given  is  not  needed 


TYPES   CIVIL   AND   UNCIVIL.  321 

in  battles  fought  out  of  sight  of  the  enemy.  That 
army  will  be  found  most  efficient  whose  uniform  is 
least  seductive  to  the  female  mind.  I  am  far  from 
asserting  that  the  Saxon  uniform  is  perfect  in  this 
respect.  No ;  it  has  a  dapper  appearance,  a  snug 
neatness,  a  sparkle  of  helmet-spike  and  sword-hilt 
greatly  to  be  deplored.  Still  there  is  none  homelier, 
so  far  as  I  am  aware  ;  and  we  may  cheerfully  trust 
to  the  natural  instincts  of  the  Saxon  mind,  to  make 
it  uglier  yet. 

To  be  rid  of  woman,  however,  we  must  take 
thought  not  of  the  uniform  only ;  there  is  the  tradi- 
tional heroism  of  the  soldier  to  be  done  away  with. 
Women  persist  in  loving  those  who  make  a  business 
of  getting  killed,  more  fondly  than  those  who  get 
killed  in  the  way  of  business.  Such  preference  is  not 
only  irrational,  —  it  was  always  that,  —  it  is  now 
foundationless.  When  will  our  wives  and  daughters 
learn  to  believe  that  he  who,  with  unfaltering  resolu- 
tion, takes  the  train  to  the  city  every  morning,  or 
calmly  spends  the  day  in  his  confined  study,  and 
trembles  not  at  the  dinner-bell,  is  more  valiant  than 
the  man  who  leads  a  healthy  life  in  camps,  and  goes 
to  battle  with  a  telescopic  rifle  once  in  twenty  years  ? 
But  no,  to  her  mind  the  soldier  is  engaged  in  daily 
hand-to-hand  encounters  ;  his  life  is  ever  next  door 

to  a  violent  end  ;  there  is  something  heroic  and  peril- 
21 


322  SAXON   STUDIES. 

ous  to  himself  in  his  own  sword  and  gun.  I  am  com- 
pelled to  admit  that  even  Saxon  soldiers  have  their 
sweethearts,  who  lavish  upon'  the  lucky  dogs  such 
looks  as  the  poor  Kellner  or  shop-tender  can  never 
hope  to  obtain  ;  and  the  necessity  of  being  in  bar- 
racks by  a  certain  hour  adds  a  romance  to  the  daily 
parting  which  makes  it  worth  a  dozen  optional  ones. 

The  infantry  are  all  uniformed  more  or  less  alike, 
but  the  cavalry  are  more  gaudily  attired  in  blue  and 
white,  and  the  lancers  are  the  dandies  of  the  army, — 
greatly  bedizened  in  front,  with  knowing  little  hel- 
mets cocked  on  one  side.  This  is  perhaps  not  wholly 
inadvisable ;  lances  and  sabres  suggest  close  fighting 
or  nothing,  and  a  man  on  horseback  is  not  liable  to 
so  much  bullying  from  the  drill-master  as  is  his  'com- 
rade on  foot.  The  horse  helps  him,  makes  him  more 
respectable  and  respected,  and  the  cavalry  is  in 
higher  consideration  than  the  infantry,  while  the  ar- 
tillery, I  believe,  ranks  higher  than  either.  A  little 
self-esteem  is  not  amiss  with  a  man  who  may  be 
called  on  to  use  muscles  and  courage  of  his  own  in 
attack  and  defence ;  and  it  will  take  a  long  time  to 
make  ideal  soldiers  out  of  horsemen.  It  may  be  ob- 
served, meanwhile,  that  the  Saxon  cavalry,  though 
superbly  mounted,  are  inferior  in  horsemanship  and 
individual  efficiency  to  either  Sheridan's  troopers  or 
the  English  Horse  Guards,  which  can  be  taken  as  a 


TYPES   CIVIL   AND   UNCIVIL.  323 

sign  that  the  knightly  element  in  the  coming  army 
will  gradually  be  refined  away,  unless  we  succeed  in 
starting  a  breed  of  scientific  horses,  on  the  principle 
of  hobbies. 

But  the  real  efficient  Saxon  uniform  is  the  uni- 
formity of  the  men  themselves.  Qf  a  regiment,  one 
man  can  scarcely  be  told  from  another  ;  it  is  one  man 
a  thousandfold  multiplied.  Height,  breadth,  features, 
wonderfully  correspond.  There  are  few  men  either 
so  well  or  so  badly  made  as  many  in  our  own  and 
English  regiments ;  but,  such  as  they  are,  they  are 
alike.  They  have  none  of  the  ruddy  freshness  of  as- 
pect which  one  sees  in  the  best  English  soldiers,  and 
little  of  the  compact  briskness  of  their  French  friends  ; 
they  are  coarse-skinned,  pallid,  big-boned,  inelegant, 
almost  undersized ;  but  they  have  shown  themselves 
equal  to  all  demands  made  upon  them  in  the  late 
wars  ;  and  I  will  add  of  my  own  motion,  that,  were 
a  given  number  of  Saxon  troops  to  encounter  an 
equal  body  of  picked  French,  English,  or  Americans, 
the  former  would  dispose  of  the  latter  with  a  facility 
which  would  leave  nothing  to  be  desired  —  or  every- 
thing. They  are  the  best  soldiers  in  the  world,  this 
year  ;  and  unless  the  farm- women  break  down  sooner 
than  is  expected,  they  may  be  so  in  years  to  come. 


324  SAXON  STUDIES. 


III. 


WHEN  I  say  that  I  have  observed  these  war-chil- 
dren a  good  deal,  I  am  only  intimating  that  I  kept 
my  eyes  open.  Every  third  man,  every  other  wom- 
an, is  a  soldier !  Fortunately  they  are  not  the  least 
agreeable  part  of  the  population  to  look  at.  Once 
used  to  them,  their  uniformity  soon  makes  them  our 
old  friends  ;  they  pleasantly  fill  all  gaps  and  pauses  ; 
we  do  not  exactly  see  them  after  a  while,  but  we 
should  greatly  miss  them,  were  they  absent.  They 
never  call  for  a  new  thought ;  the  same  old  thought 
does  for  all.  There  is  no  extravagance  in  their  look 
or  behavior.  They  seem  quite  serene  and  undemon- 
strative, and  yet  there  is  a  fantastic  skeleton  underly- 
ing this  outward  calm. 

This  may  be  seen  any  morning  by  repairing  to  the 
barracks  and  watching  the  drill.  It  looks  absurd 
enough,  but  it  is  tremendous,  and  it  works  wonders. 
Not  a  drop  of  the  man's  blood,  not  an  ounce  of  his 
flesh,  not  a  breath  of  his  body,  but  feels  the  impress 
of  the  manual.  What  a  stretch  of  the  leg  was  that ! 
and  now  what  sharp  angles,  short  corners,  starts, 


TYPES   CIVIL   AND   UNCIVIL.  325 

jerks,  dead  pauses,  sudden  veerings,  dashes,  halts, 
thumpings,  clankings !  The  man  is  beside  himself, 
and  that  grotesque  caperer  is  some  puppet  whose 
strings  the  sergeant  is  pulling.  This  periodic  fit  or 
seizure,  —  they  may  call  it  drill,  but  in  fact  it  is 
possession  of  seven  devils,  —  recurring  at  a  certain 
hour  every  morning,  lasts  a  fixed  while,  and  then  the 
devils  depart,  and  presently  the  victim  appears,  re- 
habilitated ;  but  we  know  his  secret  now,  and  all  his 
quietness  fails  to  impose  on  us  ;  we  discern  his  mad 
pranks  ill-concealed  beneath  the  most  innocent  ac- 
tions. The  mark  is  on  him  ;  the  Seven  will  rend  him 
again  to-morrow.  Skeletons  are  seldom  attractive 
spectacles  ;  but  this  skeleton  of  Drill,  once  seen,  is 
not  lightly  forgotten;  The  discovery  of  so  grisly  a 
substructure  to  the  pomp  and  circumstance  of  war 
is  impressive  in  its  way.  It  is  kept  discreetly  se- 
cluded within  the  barrack  walls,  only  venturing 
thence  in  the  gijise  of  commonplace  marching  and 
rifle  exercise.  To  the  barracks,  too.  are  confined  the 
more  flagrant  tyrannies  of  the  drill-master,  whose 
cuffs,  shoves,  and  beratings  make  the  on-looker's 
blood  to  boil,  and  him  to  marvel  at  the  silent,  unre- 
taliating  meekness  of  the  berated  one.  It  is  odd  to 
see  that  one  of  mankind  whose  avowed  business  in 
life  is  retaliation  thus  outdoing  the  forbearance  of  the 
mildest  country  clergyman.  But  a  soldier's  spirit  is 


326  SAXON   STUDIES. 

bound  strictly  to  the  rules  of  the  manual ;  when  not 
required  in  the  way  of  business,  it  must  remain  pros- 
trate in  the  mire.  Soldiers  are  generally  credited  with 
elasticity  of  spirits,  and  from  this  point  of  view  it  is 
no  wonder.  But  in  many  cases,  I  fancy,  the  spirits 
are  broken  betimes,  and  what  afterwards  passes  as 
such  is  merely  a  kind  of  galvanization  produced  by 
fear.  Doubtless  galvanism  is  better  than  courage, 
being  mechanical,  and  a  safer  factor  in  calculations. 
Besides  their  elemental  training,  the  men  are  taken 
off  on  daily  morning  tramps  of  eight  or  twelve  miles, 
often  in  heavy  marching  order.  They  issue  forth 
from  the  barrack  gates  with  an  outstreaming,  rhyth- 
mic undulation,  curve  steadily  aside,  and  proceed  with 
rustling  tramp  along  the  centre  of  the  street,  seeming 
to  move  more  slowly  than  they  do.  Their  bayoneted 
rifles  gleam  aslant  in  serried  evenness,  each  helmet 
glistens  alike,  the  brass  spikes  swaying  aligned. 
Every  hand  and  red-bound  coat-cuff  swings  parallel, 
every  knee  crooks  with  one  impulse,  every  empty 
scabbard  waves  in  similar  arcs.  There  is  an  onward 
impetus,  not  swift,  but  so  strong  that  it  seems  as  if 
houses  and  stone  walls  must  move  aside  to  let  them 
pass  —  the  impetus  of  hundreds  of  men  moving  as 
one.  The  complete  unison  of  physical  and  spiritual 
movement,  in  vast  numbers  of  human  beings,  is  awful 
to  contemplate  ;  or,  if  we  let  ourselves  be  swept  with 


TYPES   CIVIL   AND   UNCIVIL.  327 

it,  it  hurries  off  our  heads  as  a  hurricane  would  our 
hats.  But  the  unison  is  everything,  and  it  is  this 
which  makes  the  march  of  Saxon  soldiers  more  im- 
pressive than  that  of  troops  less  perfectly  drilled. 
Their  gait  is  as  good  as  it  can  be  —  a  long,  elastic, 
measured  shamble,  as  easy  at  the  end  of  twenty 
miles  as  at  the  beginning;  and  the  accuracy  with 
which  they  keep  to  straight  lines,  whether  in  march 
or  drill,  is  as  satisfactory  as  a  theorem  in  Euclid. 

The  division,  which  thus  issues  from  the  barracks 
several  hundred"  strong,  soon  begins  to  separate  into 
detachments  that  switch  off  on  different  roads,  and 
in  their  turn  split  up,  till  the  whole  is  parted  into 
squads  of  ten  or  a  dozen  men  each.  Having  got 
beyond  the  outskirts  of  the  town  and  the  chance  of 
stray  officers,  the  severity  of  the  discipline  is  some- 
what relaxed,  the  men  are  allowed  to  carry  their 
rifles  and  to  march  as  they  please,  and  to  chat  with 
one  another  as  they  go.  Of  all  these  privileges  they 
gladly  avail  themselves,  and  try  to  be  disorderly  ; 
but  the  attempt  only  shows  how  intimately  their 
training  has  entered  into  them.  What  is  ease  to 
other  men  has  ceased  to  be  so  to  them.  The  rigor 
of  the  march  tires  them  less  than  irregularity.  Be- 
hind their  most  careless  laxity  one  sees  the  iron 
method  and  precision  which  makes  the  squad  like  a 
machine,  out  of  gear  for  the  time,  but  evidently 


328  SAXON   STUDIES. 

needing  only  the  turn  of  a  crank  to  fall  in  order 
once  more..  On  they  tramp,  dusty,  muddy,  heated, 
tired  perhaps,  but  the  pace  never  slackens ;  and 
when,  two  or  three  hours  later,  they  pass  again  be- 
neath the  barrack  gates,  rifles  and  helmets,  line  and 
step,  are  as  even  and  accurate  as  before. 

After  labor,  play.  At  mid-day  the  crowd,  which 
has  been  collecting  for  the  last  half  hour  in  front  of 
the  Neustadt  barracks,  beholds  come  forth  a  goodly 
detachment,  clad  in  its  newest  uniform,  and  headed 
by  a  military  band  in  full  triumphant  blast.  Band, 
detachment,  and  crowd  set  out  in  gleeful  array 
towards  the  bridge,  every  foot  within  range  of  the 
music  keeping  time  to  it.  A  halt  is  made  opposite 
the  old  black  guard-house,  and  here  some  of  the 
music  remains,  disposes  itself  in  a  ring,  and  dis- 
courses away  heartily  for  half  an  hour,  the  echoes 
coming  finely  back  from  the  tall  ungainly  buildings 
that  shut  in  the  square.  Now  the  market-women 
are  enviable,  sitting  comfortably  at  their  stalls  ;  and 
our  old  friend  Werthmann,  if  it  be  summer,  plants 
tables  and  chairs  under  the  oleanders  outside  his 
hospitable  door,  and  finds  plenty  of  customers.  Every 
neighboring  window  has  its  head  or  two,  passers-by 
loiter  or  stop,  the  soldiers  in  the  guard-house  are 
gradually  drawn  forth  to  lounge  and  listen  in  the 
great  dark  portico,  the  perpendicular  sun  pours  a 


TYPES   CIVIL  AND   UNCIVIL.  329 

jolly  warmth  over  everything,  and  only  Augustus, 
mounted  aloft  on  his  brazen  steed,  and  carrying  on 
his  immemorial  flirtation  with  the  weatherworn  water- 
nymph  on  the  corner  of  Haupt  Strasse,  seems  wholly 
indifferent  to  the  melody  ringing  in  his  brazen  ears. 
Meanwhile  another  and  larger  assemblage  is  en- 
joying a  similar  concert  in  a  corner  of  the  Schloss- 
Platz  on  the  other  side  of  the  river.  The  bands  are 
the  same  which  play  in  the  afternoons  at  the  Grosse 
Wirthschaft  or  other  beer-gardens,  and  the  music,  ex- 
cellent in  itself,  is  enhanced  by  its  quasi-incidental 
conditions.  There  is  a  rich  spontaneity  of  flavor 
about  it  which  is  apt  to  escape  the  malice-prepense 
performances. 


380  SAXON   STUDIES. 


IV. 

OF  the  barrack-life  of  the  soldier  not  much  is  vis- 
ible to  the  outsider.  Passing  along  the  sidewalk, 
we  may  glance  in  at  the  lower  windows  and  ex- 
change a  stare  with  the  inmates,  but  we  gain  little 
wisdom  thereby..  Often  there  are  pots  of  flowers 
on  the  sill,  and  sometimes  the  carte-de-visite  of  a 
relative  or  sweetheart  pinned  to  the  wall.  But  the 
warriors  themselves  do  not  appear  to  advantage  in 
undress.  Neatness  and  sweetness  in  a  Saxon  pri- 
vate's barrack-room  (or  any  other  private's,  for  that 
matter)  are  hardly  to  be  expected.  They  wear  their 
dirty  canvas  jackets,  and  lie  about  half  asleep,  or 
drowsily  gossiping  together.  There  seems  nothing 
but  the  lazy  body  of  them  left.  It  takes  a  sergeant 
or  a  sweetheart  to  enliven  them. 

When  they  obtain  leave  of  absence  after  four 
o'clock,  and  come  out  in  brave  attire  to  drink  a  glass 
of  beer,  and  take  Gretchen's  rough,  affectionate  paw 
in  theirs,  they  are  perhaps  at  their  best.  Some  of 
the  Freiwilligers,  who  belong  to  the  better  order  of 
people,  attend  lectures  at  the  government  schools 


TYPES   CIVIL   AND    UNCIVIL.  331 

and  colleges  during  the  intervals*  of  their  military 
duties  ;  but  the  multitude  are  of  the  reasonable 
opinion  that  a  day's  drill  is  work  enough,  and  that 
a  taste  of  love  and  malt  liquor  is  only  fair  compen- 
sation. Accordingly  they  form  a  good  part  of  the 
guests  at  every  saloon  and  concert-room,  and  at  some 
of  the  dance-halls  they  have  a  monopoly.  They  are 
almost  always  the  quietest  and  most  decorous  per- 
sons present ;  drunkenness  is  not  for  them,  nor  loud 
talking,  nor  insolence  ;  they  are  a  kind  of  children 
that  do  credit  to  their  bringing  up,  and  forget  not 
the  voice  of  the  instructor  even  when  out  of  his 
presence.  But  can  these  mild,  smug  fellows  be  suc- 
cessors of  the  shaggy,  brutal,  fierce,  gigantic  Suevi 
who  roamed  the  Hyrcanian  forests  scarce  two  thou- 
sand years  ago?  and  is  it  not  funny  that  a  chemical 
discovery  or  two  and  a  smattering  of  mechanics 
should  render  these  small,  inoffensive-looking  mod- 
erns, a  hundred  times  as  formidable  in  battle  as 
those  savage  ancients  ? 

One  of  the  most  touching  sights,  in  connection 
with  military  matters,  which  I  have  happened  to 
notice  is  that  of  the  newly  enlisted  men  roaming 
the  streets  during  the  day  or  two  of  grace  allowed 
them  before  donning  the  uniform  and  beginning  the 
long,  weary  servitude  of  powder  and  ball.  They 
are  permitted  a  license  of  behavior  quite  extraordi- 


332  SAXON   STUDIES. 

nary  either  to  soldier  or  citizen ;  they  are  on  the 
neutral  ground  between,  and  may  have  their  fling, 
for  once.  Policemen  are  blind  to  their  escapades ; 
officers  ignore  them ;  people  in  general  smile  good- 
naturedly,  and  pick  them  up  when  they  fall  down. 
For  it  almost  invariably  happens  that  the  first  thing 
these  unborn  war-babes  do  is  to  get  drunk  :  it  is  the 
traditional  way  of  passing  the  solemn  period  of  incu- 
bation, and  appears  to  commend  itself  anew  to  each 
successive  brood.  They  wear  green  ribbons  in  their 
button-holes,  and  stagger  along  arm  in  arm,  croon- 
ing discordant  lays,  laughing  or  crying,  and  commit- 
ting much  harmless,  foolish,  and  piteous  uproar. 
Many  of  them  bring  smooth,  inexperienced  faces 
from  unknown  country  villages ;  others  are  already 
coarse  and  stolid ;  a  few  bear  traces  of  culture,  but 
Gambrimis  lays  all  alike  in  the  gutter.  „  Occa- 
sionally, indeed,  from  the  midst  of  this  beery  bed- 
lam, a  sane  and  sober  pair  of  eyes  meets  our  own, 
making  us  marvel  how  they  came  there.  Perhaps 
the  drunkards  are  the  wiser ;  the  prospect  is  too 
sorry  a  one  for  sober  contemplation ;  it  requires  all 
the  enchantment  that  malt  and  hops  can  cast  over  it 
to  make  it  tolerable.  But  what  a  rueful  scene  must 
to-morrow  morning's  drill  be,  with  its  Katzenjammer, 
its  helpless  ignorance,  and  its  savage  sergeant ! 


TYPES    CIVIL   AND    UNCIVIL. 


V. 


SENTRIES  represent,  to  my  mind,  the  most  inter- 
esting phase  of  army  life.  Something  of  poetic 
sentiment  still  attaches  to  them.  A  solitary  figure, 
with  gleaming  weapon  and  watchful  eye,  moving  to 
and  fro  with  measured  tread  on  the  beleaguered  ram- 
parts, or  along  the  snow-bound  limits  of  the  night 
encampment,  —  such  is  the  sentry  of  the  imagina- 
tion. His  suggestiveness  is  fascinating,  and  renders 
him  impressive.  How  much  is  confided  to  him,  and 
what  power  is  his !  He  is  the  waking  eye  and 
thought  and  strength  of  the  army,  which  slumbers 
defenceless  but  for  him.  A  signal  from  him,  and  a 
thousand  men  spring  to  arms  ;  or,  if  he  choose  to 
play  the  traitor,  they  are  massacred  without  remedy. 
So  great  a  responsibility,  so  faithfully  borne,  seems  a 
remnant  of  the  heroic  age  ;  and  to  see  commonplace 
men  of  to-day,'  with  small  intelligence  and  infirm 
principles,  so  trusted  and  vindicated,  is  beyond  all 
question  encouraging.  And  in  all  ages  of  the  world, 
sentries  have  maintained  their  good  repute ;  the 
veriest  scamp  rises  above  himself  when  left  alone 


334  SAXON  STUDIES. 

on  his  beat,  with  the  enemy  at  hand  ;  so  much  de- 
pends upon  his  honor,  that  the  sentiment  he  had 
fancied  extinct  is  recreated  in  his  breast.  Gener- 
ous thoughts  renew  a  long-interrupted  acquaintance 
with  him,  and  when  the  relief  -guard  comes  round, 
they  perhaps  find  another  and  better  man  than  was 
placed  here  three  hours  ago. 

But  we  are  venturing  rash  lengths,  hardly  borne 
out  by  our  Dresden  sentries  in  time  of  peace.  With 
these  our  main  quarrel  is  that  they  are  too  numerous 
—  the  poetic  loneliness  is  wanting.  Where  one 
would  suffice  are  two,  and  one  where  none  is  nec- 
essary. Moreover,  they  are  used  for  mere  display, 
and  are  set  to  watch  over  nothing  more  precious 
than  their  own  sentry-boxes  ;  it  is  hard  to  be  enthu- 
siastic about  such  a  peril,  such  a  responsibility  as 
that.  Again,  the  crowded  streets  belittle  them; 
and  finally,  they  are  mere  lay  figures;  if  we  brush 
past  them,  they  do  not  challenge  us,  and  if  we  ask 
them  a  question,  they  cannot  answer  it.  To  put  so 
noble  an  instrument  to  such  paltry  uses  is  like  cut- 
ting bread  and  cheese  with  Excalibur. 

The  chief  business  of  city  sentries  —  the  only 
thing  that  gives  a  fillip  to  the  lethargy  of  their 
plight  —  is  saluting.  This  affords  them  a  constant 
supply  of  mild  excitement,  varying  in  degree  accord- 
ing as  their  man  is  a  second  lieutenant  or  the  king. 


TYPES   CIVIL   AND   UNCIVIL.  335 

They  are  always  on  the  look-out,  like  hunters  for 
their  game ;  and  that  were  a  soft-footed  officer  indeed 
who  should  catch  one  of  them  napping. 

The  whole  idea  of  saluting  is  graceful;  it  is 
pleasant  to  see  men  paying  one  another  mutual 
deference,  even  when  it  is  based  on  so  trifling  a 
matter  as  the  fashion  of  an  epaulet,  and  the  cut 
of  a  coat.  It  seems  to  declare  a  human  sympathy 
and  brotherhood  outgrowing  the  bounds  of  mere 
private  acquaintance.  It  is  a  pity  that  all  men 
should  not  adopt  so  good  a  custom  ;  we  all  wear  the 
uniform  of  flesh  and  blood,  and  our  common  nature 
is  respectable  enough  for  us  to  touch  our  hats  to  it. 
Only,  the  respect  we  pay,  to  preserve  its  integrity, 
must  be  impersonal ;  I  am  Quaker  enough  to  think 
that  there  exists  no  man  who,  in  his  private  capac- 
ity, is  entitled  to  the  cap  or  knee  of  anybody.  Into 
these  subtleties,  however,  the  simple  soldier  entereth 
not ;  it  is  enough  for  him  that  he  sees  his  officer  and 
knows  his  duty.  The  officer  must  salute  in  return, 
and,  since  he  is  greatly  in  the  minority,  he  is  some- 
times kept  at  it  pretty  steadily.  When,  for  instance, 
hundreds  of  soldiers  are  streaming  across  the  bridge 
to  their  evening  diversion,  whatever  pair  of  epau- 
lets is  unlucky  enough  to  be  going  the  other  way 
has  to  run  the  gauntlet  of  them  all.  The  men  glue 
their  hands  to  their  caps,  straighten  their  shoulders, 


336  SAXON   STUDIES. 

and  will  not  be  denied.  No  doubt  they  enjoy  forc- 
ing his  acknowledgment  —  the  confession,  as  it  were, 
that  despite  his  grave  dignity  he  is  but  their  fellow- 
soldier  after  all.  Sometimes  the  soldier  has  both 
hands  occupied,  and  then  he  only  bends  a  respectful 
glance,  while  the  officer  must  still  touch  his  cap,  with 
however  arrogant  a  dab.  The  messenger,  with  his 
dispatches  in  his  breast,  and  his  rifle  on  his  shoulder, 
is  likewise  privileged  to  a  certain  extent ;  his  mission 
elevates  him  for  the  moment  above  ordinary  regula- 
tions. But  it  is  odd  that  so  fraternal  and  catholic  a 
practice  should  obtain  only,  and  of  all  places,  in  the 
army  ;  it  is  like  the  honey  in  the  carcass  of  Samson's 
lion. 

To  return  to  our  sentry,  who  has  just  discerned  his 
quarry  approaching  up  the  street.  In  consideration 
of  the  spasmodic  rigidity  which  always  fastens  upon 
sentinels  when  under  the  eye  of  their  superiors  in 
rank,  the  latter,  one  might  suppose,  must  get  queer 
notions  of  them :  what  is  this  fixed,  convulsed  object, 
gorgonized  at  my  glance  in  so  ungainly  an  attitude  ? 
Does  it  live  ?  Has  it  intelligence  ?  As  for  the 
king,  he  probably  thinks  .of  his  soldiers  as  of  so 
many  wooden  toys,  quaintly  postured ;  and  only  by 
a  determined  effort  realizes  that  they  may  have 
moved  in  a  natural  manner  before  he  laid  eyes  on 
them,  and  will  likely  do  so  again  hereafter.  But 


TYPES   CIVIL   AND   UNCIVIL.  337 

kings  are  unfortunate  in  never  being  able  to  steal  a 
march  upon  Nature :  in  the  attempt  to  express  her 
sense  of  their  divine  rights,  she  becomes  unnatural ; 
and  the  more  ineffable  their  majesty,  the  more  fan- 
tastic her  grimace. 

Meanwhile,  hither  comes  the  officer,  self-contained, 
leisurely,  dignified  :  his  gloved  hand  on  his  sword- 
hilt,  his  iron  cross  on  his  breast.  If  he  be  a  colonel, 
the  sentry  begins  to  be  spasmodic  while  the  great 
man  is  yet  half  a  block  distant,  and  "  presents  arms  " 
at  a  time  when,  unless  the  colonel's  arm  were  sixty 
or  seventy  feet  in  length  he  could  not  possibly  avail 
himself  of  the  offer.  A  lieutenant,  on  the  other 
hand,  succeeds  in  stiffening  his  man  only  within  a 
range  of  six  paces,  and  even  then  the  rifle  is  but 
"  ordered."  But  in  any  case,  the  inferior  is  anxious, 
tense,  electrified ;  the  superior,  serene,  indifferent, 
haughty  ;  he  affects  to  be  unsuspicious  of  the  brew- 
ing of  the  salute,  and  acknowledges  it  at  the  last 
moment  by  a  lazy  uplifting  of  the  forefinger.  Gest- 
ure nor  expression  could  better  express  aristocracy's 
contemptuous  recognition  of  the  plebeian's  existence. 
But  should  the  plebeian  fail  to  discharge  his  whole 
debt  of  reverence,  the  aristocrat  wakes  up.  I  saw 
an  overgrown  captain,  whose  rank  the  sentry  had 
mistaken,  keep  the  fellow  at  the  "  present "  for  fif- 
teen minutes;  till  the  sweat  ran  down  the  poor 


338  SAXON  STUDIES. 

devil's  scared  face,  and  the  heavy  rifle  trembled  in 
his  tired  grasp  as  though  it  shared  his  apprehensions. 
These  are  not  insignificant  details ;  they  are  the 
lifeblood  of  the  army. 

When  the  king  or  any  member  of  the  royal  house- 
hold comes  by,  the  sentry  is  full  of  hysteric  bustle 
and  excitement.  He  runs  to  the  bell-pull,  jerks  it, 
and  back  to  his  place,  now  craning  his  head  forwards 
to  see  how  near  majesty  is,  now  twisting  it  back 
over  his  shoulder  to  see  whether  the  guard  has 
turned  out,  and  the  drummer  is  ready.  Now  passes 
the  outrider,  high  jouncing  on  his  hard  trotting 
blindered  horse ;  now  follows  the  smooth-rolling 
carriage,  majesty  within  ;  the  drum  beats,  the  guard 
is  transfixed,  the  sentry  a  motionless  bundle  of  right 
angles.  A  few  breathless  moments,  and  all  is  over  ; 
the  guard  relaxes  and  stacks  arms,  the  sentry  comes 
to  life  and  shoulders  his  rifle  ;  the  drummer  puts  up 
his  drumsticks  and  disappears.  Majesty  has  been 
saluted  by  man,  and  we  may  breathe  again. 


TYPES   CIVIL  AND   UNCIVIL.  339 


VI. 


WE  continually  encounter  squads  of  men  uniformed 
from  head  to  foot  in  dirty  canvas,  marching  hastily 
along  the  streets  in  military  order,  and  in  charge  of 
a  corporal.  But  though  evidently  connected  with 
the  army,  they  are  always  weaponless,  and  they  pass 
their  brethren  of  whatever  rank  unsaluted  and  un- 
saluting.  Sometimes  they  carry  spades,  hatchets, 
brooms,  or  other  agricultural  and  menial  implements ; 
and  if  we  follow  them  up  we  shall  find  them  sweep- 
ing the  streets,  digging  gardens,  chopping  firewood, 
or  otherwise  making  themselves  sullenly  useful:  while 
the  corporal  looks  on  with  folded  arms  ;  and,  per- 
haps when  the  weather  is  cold,  wishes  that  military 
etiquette  allowed  him  to  bear  a  hand.  These  men 
are  generally  of  a  gloomy  and  dejected  aspect,  never 
laugh  or  sing  over  their  labor,  and  converse,  if  at 
all,  in  a  growling  undertone.  When  their  work  is 
done,  they  are  not  allowed  to  go  and  play,  but  must 
shoulder  their  implements  and  march  to  barracks. 
They  never  have  leave  of  absence,  and  must  never 
stay  beyond  the  corporal's  reach.  Their  week  seems 
to  be  full  of  Fridays. 


340  SAXON    STUDIES. 

These  melancholy  drudges  are  the  Bestrafene  — 
soldiers  who  have  outraged  discipline  in -one  way  or 
another,  and  have  therefore  incurred  the  penalty  of 
deprivation  of  all  soldierly  privileges,  and  subjection 
to  all  refuse  employments.  All  the  more  irksome 
burdens  are  put  on  their  shoulders,  and  they  get  no 
thanks  for  bearing  them.  Nothing  could  be  less  ex- 
hilarating than  their  position :  they  are  hopeless  of 
bettering  themselves,  though  any  indiscretion  will 
surely  sink  them  yet  deeper.  They  are  prisoners 
bereft  of  the  prisoner's  right  to  fetters  and  stone 
walls ;  for  certainly  it  were  better  to  be  dungeoned 
outright,  and,  by  dint  of  never  beholding  human 
freedom  and  natural  beauty,  grow  to  forget  that 
such  things  exist,  than  thus  daily  to  be  flouted  by 
the  sight  and  contact  of  blessings  which  they  may 
not  share.  The  lot  of  the  soldier  is  not,  under  any 
circumstances,  the  kindest  in  the  world ;  and  the 
sting  of  his  punishments  is  the  fact  that  they  are 
inflicted  for  offences  intrinsically  so  trivial.  The 
army  is  so  portentously  abnormal  an  institution, 
that  its  code  of  right  and  wrong  must  needs  be  ex- 
aggerated to  match,  and  the  strangest  consequences 
ensue.  •  Soldiers  —  and  especially,  it  seems  to  me, 
Saxon  soldiers  —  are  constantly  subjected  to  burning 
provocations,  none  the  easier  to  bear  because  they 
are  part  of  inevitable  discipline.  Nevertheless,  any 


TYPES   CIVIL   AND   UNCIVIL.  341 

symptom  of  restiveness  is  treated  as  an  unpardon- 
able fault  —  and  properly  so,  if  armies  are  to  exist. 
But  what  intolerable  wrongs  may  not  be  thus  made 
possible !  Even  Saxon  soldiers,  it  appears,  can  lose 
their  complaisance  at  last ;  and  if  an  officer  has  a 
grudge  against  a  private,  it  is  evident  that  the  pri- 
vate is  doomed ;  either  his  life  is  made  a  bane  to 
him  by  constant  insult  and  oppression,  or  his  forbear- 
ance yields  for  a  moment,  and  he  incurs  perhaps 
twenty  years'  Bestrafung.  There  are  hundreds,  per- 
haps thousands,  of  Bestrafene  in  Dresden  ;  and  since 
they  have  all  rebelled  with  a  full  knowledge  of  the 
consequences,  we  may  partly  estimate  the  severity  of 
Saxon  discipline. 

Their  terms  of  punishment  vary  from  a  few  months 
to  life,  according  to  their  offence.  One  cannot  help 
being  surprised  that  the  crime  for  which  they  do 
penance  is  not  always  murder.  And  indeed,  if  the 
question  is  of  moral  accountability,  were  it  not  less 
sin  to  have  slain  a  tyrant  in  one  fiery  instant,  than 
impotently  to  curse  him  in  cold  blood  every  day  for 
twenty  years  ? 

It  must  often  happen,  moreover,  that  the  Bestra- 
fene who  are  thus  laid  on  the  shelf,  so  far  as  any 
manly  use  is  concerned,  had  it  in  them  to  be  the 
very  flower  of  the  army.  It  was  the  pith  and  force 
of  the  man  that  got  him  into  trouble.  Had  he  been 


342  SAXON   STUDIES. 

a  little  more  white-livered,  he  would  have  escaped. 
But  he  was  convicted  of  a  flickering  of  manly  spirit, 
a  spark  of  independence,  a  heat  of  temper ;  and  for 
these  unwarrior-like  qualities  he  is  extinguished.  Is 
there  no  help  for  it  ?  no  allowance  to  be  made  for 
provocations  and  possibilities  ?  By  no  means  :  disci- 
pline must  be  true  to  itself,  or  die.  There  is  no 
flaw  in  the  logic  of  the  army.  If  mankind  to-day 
really  loved  fighting  as  much  as  they  seem  to  have 
done  of  yore,  they  would  not  stop  to  do  it  scientifi- 
cally ;  the  main  expense  of  a  campaign  would  be  for 
grave-diggers  ;  while  peace  could  afford  to  be  some- 
thing more  honest  than  a  gatherer-together  of  ex- 
pensive brickbats  against  the  next  contest.  To  shoot 
at  a  man  is  not  to  fight  him  ;  but  get  at  him  with 
your  fists,  or  with  a  club,  or  dirk  at  most,  and  im- 
mediately you  have  satisfaction ;  you  feel  that  you 
have  measured  yourself  against  that  man;  if  you 
kill  him,  it  is  with  the  serene  assurance  that  your 
superior  personal  prowess  was  the  sole  cause  of  vic- 
tory; if  he  kill  you,  you  are  spared  the  annoy- 
ance of  succumbing  to  some  sleight-of-hand  trick, 
or  mechanical  hocus-pocus.  Rifles,  cannon,  and  mil- 
itary manoeuvres  are  among  the  Will-o'-the-wisps  of 
the  age.  They  seem  to  give  us  that  which  they  rob 
us  of.  Since  they  came  in  vogue  there  have  been 
no  battles  —  no  defeats  nor  victories.  Unless  we  can 


TYPES   CIVIL   AND   UNCIVIL.  343 

slay  our  enemy  as  Cain  slew  Abel,  and  perhaps  eat 
him  up  afterwards,  we  would  better  let  him  alone. 
"  Civilized  warfare "  is  the  very  most  dangerous 
device  of  the  devil,  worth  all  his  other  inventions 
put  together. 

I  scrutinized  the  faces  of  these  canvas-backed  fel- 
lows with  morbid  interest.  There  is  not  a  cheerful  one 
among  them :  many  have  acquired  a  sinister  expres- 
sion ;  some  are  sullen-brutal,  some  sullen-obstinate, 
some  sullen-fierce.  Only  a  few  have  the  passive  sto- 
lidity of  despair,  for  hope  is  more  obstinate  than 
most  misery.  Some  wear  a  hang-dog  look;  others 
stare  us  defiantly  in  the  face.  All  this  is  what  might 
be  expected,  but  I  was  not  prepared  to  find  so  many 
well-built  heads  and  able  countenances.  I  do  not 
mean  to  say  that  there  are  any  Liebigs  or  Goethes 
among  them  ;  but  only  that  their  intellectual  promise 
outdoes  that  of  their  unpariah-ed  comrades  —  no  diffi- 
cult feat,  Heaven  knows.  Brains,  of  a  certain  kind, 
are  desirable  in  the  leaders  of  the  army,  but  not  in 
the  army  itself.  The  analogy  with  man  is  strict. 
He  must  not  allow  his  arms  and  legs,  his  liver  and 
stomach  to  be  intellectual ;  the  head  is  the  place  for 
cerebration,  and  any  other  member  that  presumes  to 
do  anything  in  that  line  ought  to  be  licked  into 
shape  without  delay. 

The  unlucky  wretches  sometimes  try  to  escape,  but 


344  SAXON  STUDIES. 

only  succeed  when  they  accept  the  faithful  coopera- 
tion of  death.  All  plans  for  freedom  to  which  that 
venerable  friend  of  man  is  not  made  privy  are  sure  to 
fail.  The  whole  country  rises  and  greedily  hunts 
them  down  ;  and  —  such  is  human  frailty  —  the  fugi- 
tives generally  suffer  themselves  to  be  caught  alive. 
Occasionally  they  adopt  other  methods.  Not  very 
long  ago  a  squad  of  Bestrafene  were  at  work  on  some 
job  in  the  Grosser  Garten,  when  Albert  (at  that 
time  crown  prince)  came  riding  by,  unattended,  ex- 
cept by  the  groom  some  distance  behind  him.  Sud- 
denly one  of  the  men  left  his  work  and  rushed  up 
to  the  royal  soldier  —  the  head  of  the  army,  to 
whom  all  power  was  given  to  pardon,  promote,  or 
condemn. 

Here  I  pricked  up  my  ears,  thinking  I  was  going 
to  hear  something  worth  hearing.  What !  had  this 
man's  misery  risen  to  so  tragic  a  height  as  to  nerve 
him  to  lift  a  revengeful  hand  against  the  prince  ?  I 
have  done  injustice  to  the  strength  and  color  of  the 
Saxon  nature ! 

"  Before  he  could  be  stopped,"  continued  my  in- 
formant, "  he  had  thrown  himself  on  his  knees  in  the 
bridle  path,  and  had  seized  the  royal  stirrup.  He 
besought  the  prince  to  remit  some  years  of  his  sen- 
tence. He  had  been  condemned  to  five-and-twenty 
years  —  ten  had  already  elapsed.  By  this  time  assist- 


TYPES   CIVIL   AND   UNCIVIL.  345 

ance  arrived ;  the  groom  rode  the  impudent  fellow 
down,  and  his  comrades  dragged  him  off." 

"  But  the  prince  was  gracious,  of  com*se  ?  " 

"  Most  gracious  !  he  kept  his  eyes  all  the  time 
averted  ;  had  he  once  looked  at  the  man  it  would 
have  been  a  life-imprisonment !  but  he  affected  to  be 
not  aware  of  him.  Thereafter  he  called  to  him  the 
corporal,  and  graciously  commanded  that  the  man's 
term  should  be  not  at  all  increased." 

"  I  should  think  he  might  have  remitted  him  a 
year  or  two." 

"  Pardon  !  God  forbid  !  where  then  would  be  dis- 
cipline —  the  army  ?  " 

The  gentleman  who  told  me  this  was  not  a  military 
person,  but  a  simple  Saxon  citizen,  a  doctor  of  phi- 
lology, and  a  very  good  fellow.  On  consideration, 
his  view  of  the  incident  rather  relieved  than  other- 
wise my  injured  sensibilities.  If  he,  the  most  hu- 
mane of  Saxons,  could  thus  utterly  ignore  the  down- 
trodden petitioner's  side  of  the  question,  might  it  not 
be  justly  inferred  that  the  petitioner  himself,  being 
a  Saxon  as  well  as  the  doctor,  and  presumably  of 
duller  perceptions,  was  less  affected  by  his  misfor- 
tunes than  I  had  rashly  supposed  ?  It  has  been  re- 
cently established,  I  believe,  that  the  beetle  which 
we  tread  upon  suffers  very  little  corporal  anguish 
after  all.  Why  should  not  the  analogy  be  applied  to 


346  SAXON   STUDIES. 

these  Bestrafene  ?  Our  sympathy  has  been  thrown 
away  upon  them ;  they  do  not  half  mind  being  put 
out  of  the  sunshine  of  existence.  Whoever  attempts 
to  apply  to  Saxons  the  moral,  mental,  or  emotional 
standards  of  other  peoples,  may  succeed  in  discover- 
ing himself,  but  not  them. 


TYPES  CIVIL  AND   UNCIVIL.  347 


VII. 


THE  Saxon  officers  are  a  fine-looking  body  of  men. 
They  are  taller,  on  the  average,  than  the  common 
soldiers,  and  possess  symmetrical  figures.  Their  uni- 
forms are  kept  scrupulously  neat,  their  bearing  is 
not  devoid  of  conventional  grace,  and,  though  not 
invariably  remarkable  for  general  culture,  they  are 
thoroughly  competent  to  their  duties  in  the  field  as 
well  as  familiar  with  the  arts  of  bowing,  dancing, 
and  uttering  smiling  compliments  to  pretty  yoang 
foreigners,  whose  appreciation  thereof  is  enhanced  by 
the  fact  that  the  complimenter,  besides  being  an 
officer,  is  almost  always  either  a  count  or  a  baron. 

The  army  is,  of  course,  the  first  profession  in  Sax- 
ony ;  all  the  young  sprigs  of  nobility  crowd  to  the 
cadet  schools,  and  are  thence  commissioned  to  the 
various  branches  of  the  service;  there  is  little  fun 
and  less  profit  to  be  got  by  staying  under  the  pa- 
ternal roof-tree.  The  profession  is  no  sinecure,  how- 
ever; these  dapper  captains  and  lieutenants  must 
work  like  Irish  laborers  every  day  ;  from  four  in  the 
morning  till  four  in  the  afternoon  they  are  sometimes 


348  SAXON   STUDIES. 

kept  in  the  field  ;  while  such  pay  as  they  get  would 
hardly  keep  an  American  gentleman  in  cigars.  In 
view  of  this  fact,  their  immaculate  coats  and  white 
kid  gloves  and  snug  boots  are  doubly  admirable. 
Such  genius  for  economy,  combined  with  such  ca- 
pacity for  labor,  would  seem  to  argue  just  the  men 
with  whom  love  in  a  cottage  could  be  made  at  once 
pleasant  and  profitable ;  and  yet,  these  Spartans 
never  happen  to  fall  in  love  with  the  penniless  young 
ladies.  They  will  even  marry  the  wealthy,  upon  oc- 
casion, thus  proving  the  sincerity  of  their  affection ; 
for  not  every  young  man,  nowadays,  is  lover  enough 
to  sacrifice  his  best  talents  to  his  passion. 

Well  —  but  they  are  amusing  and  good-natured, 
and  really  the  life  of  American  and  English  parties. 
They  have  a  child-like  theatricality  of  manner  ;  and 
their  courteous  extravagances  are  charming  to  women 
used  to  the  cold  attentions  of  English  and  American 
men.  The  French  do  it  better,  perhaps,  but  we 
cannot  always  be  in  Paris.  It  is  something  to  have 
one's  hand  kissed  without  being  obliged  to  consider 
it  the  first  step  towards  a  declaration.  If  only  the 
Saxon  officers  would  learn  discretion  at  table,  they 
would  be  the  darlings  of  the  foreign  circle  in  Dres- 
den ;  and  I  understand  that  they  have  considerably 
reformed  in  this  respect.  Still,  table  is  their  weak 
point,  and  they  might  sin  far  more  grievously  in 


TYPES   CIVIL   AND   UNCIVIL.  349 

other  directions  without  incurring  half  the  reproach 
which  this  peccadillo  brings  upon  them.  I  do  not 
allude  to  their  manner  of  putting  food  into  their 
mouths,  so  much  as  to  a  habit  they  had,  when  supper 
was  announced  at  the  entertainments  given  by  their 
American  and  English  friends,  of  stopping  neither 
for  host  nor  partner,  but  forming  in  an  impenetrable 
phalanx  round  the  tables,  from  which  they  budged 
not  for  man  or  woman  until  they  could  eat  no  more. 
They  would  then  retire  in  good  order  to  recover  their 
breath,  while  the  civilians  of  the  company  would 
take  the  opportunity  to  minister  to  the  ladies.  It  is 
true  that  the  ordinary  rations  of  the  Saxon  officer 
can  hardly  be  either  rich  or  varied,  and  such  repasts 
as  these  must  offer  them  extraordinary  allurements ; 
nevertheless,  with  a  little  more  tact,  they  might  suc- 
ceed in  satisfying  the  demands  of  breeding  and  ap- 
petite both. 


350  SAXON   STUDIES. 


VIII. 

THE  lodging-house  keeper,  the  droschkey-driver, 
and  the  dienstman,  however  slight  their  apparent 
resemblance  to  one  another,  do  nevertheless  come 
under  one  and  the  same  category.  They  are  all 
three  consequences  of  that  widespread  social  dis- 
ease, —  the  indisposition  to  do  our  own  work. 
They  exist  to  indulge  the  slipshod  caprices  of  an 
enervated  civilization.  They  are  of  a  species  of 
moral  vermin,  generated  by  the  sloth  of  the  age. 
The  cleanest  and  nicest  of  us  permit  ourselves  to  be 
infested  with  them,  and  are  fain  to  think  them  a 
convenience :  but  can  that  rightly  be  styled  conven- 
ient, whose  tendency  is  to  stunt  our  faculties  ?  To 
look  closely  into  the  matter  —  to.  realize  how  inti- 
mate is  our  dependence  upon  unsavory  and  unsym- 
pathetic strangers  —  would  be  perilous  to  our  self- 
respect.  But  by  the  mercy  of  Providence,  we  seldom 
do  look  closely,  and  at  the  worst  refuse  to  believe  a 
little  of  what  our  analysis  declares  is  truth. 

This  is  a  mechanical  era,  and  we  are  all  aiming  at 
a  state  wherein  nothing  shall  interfere  with  continu- 


TYPES   CIVIL  AND   UNCIVIL.  351 

cms  intellectual  exaltation.  Accordingly,  instead  of 
running  on  our  own  errands,  we  hail  a  dienstman. 
The  bargain  between  us  is,  that  in  consideration  of 
from  one  to  five  groschen  paid  to  him,  he  is  to  engraft 
upon  himself  a  certain  portion  of  our  life,  —  to  enact 
our  character,  according  to  his  conception  of  it.  As 
a  guarantee  of  good  faith  (for  even  in  such  transac- 
tions the  cant  of  respectability  is  retained)  he  gives 
us  a  slip  of  paper  inscribed  with  a  name  and  a  num- 
ber; and  thereupon  we  go  our  several  ways.  We, 
who  have  voluntarily  docked  ourselves  of  part  of  our 
rightful  existence  and  office  in  the  world,  depart  with 
light  steps  and  jaunty  air  ;  and  like  the  tailless  fox  in 
the  fable,  would  argue  ourselves  in  better  case  than 
before.  We  perceive  no  indelicacy  —  still  less  ab- 
surdity—  in  the  contract.  We  reflect  not  that  we 
have  adulterated  our  God-given  personality ; .  that 
instead  of  decently  limiting  ourselves,  as  nature 
meant  we  should,  to  the  confines  of  our  own  skin  and 
bones,  we  have  divided  in  pieces  as  some  insects  do, 
and  are  partly  masquerading  about  the  streets  in  the 
ignoble  guise  of  the  canaille,  exposed  to  all  coarse 
association  and  vicious  interpretation.  We  have  ad- 
mitted this  rude,  infragrant  fellow,  with  his  soiled 
blouse  and  heavy  boots,  to  a  share  in  our  conduct  of 
life,  and  in  so  far  we  have  given  him  influence  over 
our  destiny  and  reputation.  Do  we  expect  him,  for 


352  SAXON  STUDIES. 

the  sake  of  sixpence,  to  appreciate  the  delicacy  of  our 
mutual  relation,  or  try  to  do  justice  to  it  ?  .  A  private 
body- servant,  used  to  our  humors  and  bound  to  us  by 
every  tie  of  interest  and  gratitude,  is  still  a  question- 
able commodity  enough  ;  but  the  dienstman  —  the 
public  footman  and  scullion  —  who  is  at  the  beck  of 
a  hundred  masters  in  the  course  of  each  day  —  there 
cannot  be  much  question  about  him  ! 

Men  who  serve  ignoble  ends  are  seldom  among  the 
chosen  of  the  race,  to  begin  with,  and  at  all  events, 
the  nature  of  the  employment  must  have  an  evil  in- 
fluence upon  them.  The  Dresdeners  complain  that 
the  dienstmen  are  fallen  from  their  original  goodness, 
having  been  corrupted  by  the  American  practice  of 
overpayment  and  bribery.  But  loth  as  I  am  to  see  a 
flaw  in  aught  Saxon,  I  fear  these  fellow-mortals  were 
always  an  ill-conditioned  lot,  stupid,  clumsy,  untrust- 
worthy, and  prone  to  insolence.  They  come  from 
the  lowest  ranks  of  the  community,  and  in  spite  of 
their  "  receipts "  are  practically  irresponsible,  so  far 
as  foreigners  are  concerned.  In  short,  they  are  an 
unceasing  protest  against  the  depraved  social  condi- 
tions which  brought  them  forth ;  and  the  best  I  can 
wish  them  is,  that  they  should  ultimately  protest 
themselves  out  of  existence.  Meanwhile,  objectively 
considered,  they  form  an  entertaining  and  instructive 
feature  of  the  population.  They  are  very  numerous, 


TYPES   CIVIL   AND   UNCIVIL.  353 

standing  in  knots  of  three  to  a  dozen  at  the  street 
corners  and  in  the  squares  and  market-places,  bloused 
and  belted  in  summer,  and  in  winter  mounting  a 
coffee-colored  top-coat ;  always  provided  with  a  coil 
of  rope,  and  cognizant  of  a  small  handcart  not  far 
off.  They  constantly  smoke  a  pale  brown  brand  of 
cigars,  which  can  be  obtained  in  the  shops  at  the  rate 
of  about  twenty-five  cents  the  hundred.  They  will 
undertake  any  job,  from  delivering  a  billet-doux  or 
packing  porcelain,  to  sawing  wood  or  moving  house 
furniture.  But  it  is  somewhat  odd  that  although 
essentially  a  laboring  guild,  they  should  yet  continue 
to  produce  the  impression  of  being  among  the  most 
indolent  people  in  the  city.  They  wait  for  the  job 
with  an  air  as  if  the  job  itself  were  waiting  ;  but  no 
sooner  do  they  fall  to  work,  than  they  appear  abnor- 
mal and  out  of  place,  and  we  long  to  see  them  with 
their  hands  in  their  pockets  once  more.  The  reason 
must  be  that  though  their  leisure  is  their  own,  their 
labor  is  always  borrowed  from  some  one  else,  and 
thus  sits  more  or  less  awkwardly  upon  them.  They 
have  no  personal  interest  in  their  work,  nor  can  it  be 
either  regular  or  homogeneous.  For  them,  therefore, 
work  must  evidently  be  demoralizing ;  and  the  only 
alternative  being  idleness,  it  follows  that  the  honor- 
ablest  deed  for  dienstmen  is  to  do  nothing,  —  a  con- 
clusion to  which  no  one  will  assent  more  readily  than 
their  sometime  employer. 

23 


354  SAXON   STUDIES. 


IX. 


As  for  the  droschkey-drivers,  they  appear  to  be 
broken  down  dienstmen,  who  prolong  life  solely  to 
nourish  their  implacable  resentment  against  mankind. 
They  are  an  elderly  set,  of  furrowed  and  malignant 
visage,  and  a  complexion  which  weatherbeating  out- 
side and  hard  drinking  inside  has  wrought  up  to  an 
extraordinary  pitch  of  inflammation.  They  wear 
cobalt  coats  and  caps,  trimmed  with  vermilion,  and 
their  vehicle  is  upholstered  to  match.  In  cold  or 
rainy  weather  they  wrap  themselves  in  an  anoma- 
lous, voluminous,  dingy  garment,  —  caped,  skirted, 
wadded,  and  belted,  —  and  put  on  a  broad-brimmed, 
platter-shaped  hat  of  coarse  black  felt.  They  sit 
their  box-like  excrescences,  —  a  new  species  of  cen- 
taur,—  looking  as  if  nothing  short  of  a  surgical 
operation  could  detach  them  from  it.  Dull-eyed, 
round-shouldered,  with  chin  on  breast ;  evil-tempered, 
foul-mouthed,  thievish ;  these  men  are  among  the 
curiosities  of  human  nature :  I  was  fascinated  by 
them,  and  begot  for  them  at  length  a  horrible  sort  of 
affection.  There  was  a  fearful  joy  in  putting  one  of 


TYPES    CIVIL   AND    UNCIVIL.  355 

them  through  his  paces  —  in  leading  him  on  to  de- 
mand (as  was  demanded  once  of  me)  nine  times  his 
lawful  fare ;  and  then  witnessing  the  grisly  fever 
of  his  wrath  at  being  forced  back  to  the  confines  of 
sober  truth  and  justice.  A  tremendous  experience, 
indeed  ;  but  such  as  no  man  of  ordinary  nerve  would 
care  to  sustain  more  than  once  or  twice  a  year  at  the 
utmos't.  Here,  at  last,  we  have  the  Saxon  character 
in  its  most  unredeemed  phase  ;  and  I  repeat,  there  is 
a  hideous  charm  about  it. 

Why  are  cabbies  all  over  the  world  (Parisian  cab- 
bies are  perhaps  an  exception)  so  cross-grained,  mis- 
anthropic and  cynical  ?  Is  it  because  they  are  always 
sitting  down,  and  thus  never  get  a  chance  to  work 
off  their  ill-humors  ?  There  is  certainly  potent  virtue 
in  a  man's  leg,  and  were  he  anchored  to  a  single  spot, 
like  a  vegetable,  it  is  odds  but  he  would  be  a  poison- 
ous one.  Cabbies,  moreover,  live  in  an  atmosphere 
of  petty  exasperation.  The  state  of  the  weather  and 
of  their  horses  ;  the  perverseness  and  stinginess  of 
their  customers  ;  envy  of  their  rivals  on  the  stand ; 
anger  against  Providence  and  the  world  for  having 
given  them  nothing  better  to  do  ;  these  and  number- 
less other  flouts  of  fortune  come  in  for  their  daily 
quota  of  grumbled  curses.  The  degree  of  a  cabbie's 
interest  in  his  fellow-beings  varies  with  their  probable 
need  of  his  cab  ;  and  he  searches  their  faces  only  for 


356  SAXON   STUDIES. 

the  signs  of  ignorance  or  weakness  which  may  enable 
him  to  get  the  best  of  the  bargain.  He  begins  each 
day  sullenly  :  ten  minutes  sooner,  and  he  might  have 
caught  an  early  worm ;  and  ends  it  with  anathema, 
because  ten  minutes  longer  might  have  found  him  a 
belated  one.  Go  where  he  will,  his  surroundings 
never  vary  :  his  steed  plods  ever  before  him,  his  four 
'wheels  rumble  behind,  his  whip  stands  at  his  right 
hand,  his  toes  still  stub  against  the  selfsame  old  dash- 
board. He  naps  on  his  box,  but  even  in  his  dreams 
is  cabbie  still ;  his  nightmare  is  a  j  ust  fare,  his  vision 
of  bliss  an  exorbitant  one.  What  has  he  to  look  for- 
ward to  in  life  ?  and  after  death  how  does  he  expect 
to  manage  about  his  droschkey,  which  seems  to  have 
become  an  organic  and  spiritual  part  of  him  ?  It  is 
ill-adapted  to  ascending  straight  and  narrow  paths, 
but  exhibits  a  persistent  readiness  to  run  down  hill ; 
and  although  furnished  with  a  brake,  which  the 
driver  is  morbidly  careful  to  apply  at  each  suspicion 
of  a  slope,  yet  some  slopes  are  steeper  than  brakes 
are  strong,  and  wheels  will  be  wheels. 

The  horses,  though  they  jog  along  at  an  easy  rate, 
compare  favorably  with  the  London  breed.  The 
droschkeys  are  all  of  one  pattern,  —  closed  cabs  in 
winter,  open  in  summer.  To  the  back  of  the  forward 
seat  is  affixed  a  large  square  card,  showing  the  tariff 
of  prices  and  distances  and  the  name  of  the  driver, — 


TYPES   CIVIL  AND   UNCIVIL.  357 

which  is  always  a  tieble-barrelled  name,  and,  oddly 
enough,  the  middle  barrel  is  almost  always  either 
Gottlieb  or  Gottfried.  Can  it  be  that  the  burden  of 
so  great  titles  overpowers  that  which  it  is  meant  to 
sustain,  and  lands  the  would-be  protege"  of  Provi- 
dence, a  friendless  droschkey-driver  ?  When  on 
stand,  the  droschkeys  are  ranged  side  by  side  instead 
of  end  to  end,  as  though  Dresden  were  broader  than 
it  is  long ;  and  the  one  which  has  stood  the  longest 
has  precedence  over  the  rest  in  answering  a  call ;  so 
that  you  cannot  make  your  own  choice  of  a  vehicle, 
but  must  respect  the  rule  of  succession.  For  some 
reason  or  other,  the  clatter  of  wheels  and  hoofs  in 
Dresden  is  more  jarring  and  disconcerting  than  in 
any  other  city  I  am  acquainted  with.  Allowing  for 
the  clumsy  construction  of  the  carriages  and  the  cob- 
bley  pavements,  I  believe  the  explanation  to  be  that 
there  is  never  enough  traffic  in  the  streets  to  create 
a  continuous  and  coherent  roar :  you  hear  each  in- 
dividual rattle,  and  the  volume  of  sound  is  only 
sufficient  to  rack  your  ears  without  dulling  them. 
The  effect  on  the  senses  is  somewhat  similar  to  that 
produced  by  a  review  of  the  drivers'  characteristics 
on  the  mind,  —  they  are  harsh  and  ugly  enough  to 
exasperate  and  revolt  us,  but  fall  short  of  that  pleni- 
tude of  evil  which  might  relieve  by  paralyzing  our 
moral  sensitiveness. 


358  SAXON   STUDIES. 


X. 


LODGING-HOUSE  keepers,  like  Jews  and  Gypsies, 
seem  to  have  existed  from  time  immemorial ;  like 
them,  also,  they  are  solicitors  anent  profit  and  loss, 
and  have  the  outside  of  poverty  if  not  the  thing  it- 
self. But  from  this  point  begins  a  difference.  I 
never  heard  of  lodging-house  keepers  intermarrying, 
—  the  heart  knoweth  too  well  its  own  bitterness. 
There  are  seldom  any  handsome  women  among  them, 
nor  can  the  race  be  said  to  possess  a  distinctive  type 
of  physiognomy.  As  to  their  religion,  whatever  may 
be  its  ostensible  character,  I  fancy  there  are  passages 
in  its  creed  which  have  never  received  the  sanction  of 
an  Ecumenic  Council. 

The  profession  is  very  largely  followed  on  the  Con- 
tinent. The  people  seem  unable  to  fill  their  own 
rooms,  or  averse  to  doing  so.  They  desire  to  coin 
money  out  of  their  homes,  —  to  prostitute  their 
board  and  hearthstone  to  the  highest  bidder.  A 
person  who  will  do  this  must  have  contrived  to  dis- 
embarrass himself,  consciously  or  otherwise,  of  a 
good  many  prejudices.  From  a  merely  sentimental 


TYPES   CIVIL   AND    UNCIVIL.  359 

point  of  view  he  might  be  credited  with  a  degree  of 
philosophical  elevation  not  far  removed  from  spirit- 
ual uncleanliness.  But  it  may  be  doubted  whether 
the  majority  of  the  present  generation  —  especially 
the  Saxon  part  of  it  —  have  seriously  bethought 
themselves  what  a  home  is ;  and  it  would  therefore 
be  unjust  to  tax  them  with  polluting  its  sanctities. 
For  some  people,  the  only  safe  preservative  against 
sin  is  an  absence  of  moral  responsibility  ;  and  Heaven 
may  have  seen  fit  to  create  lodging-house  keepers 
without  the  home  instinct,  as  the  only  practicable 
way  of  keeping  them  from  violating  it.  However,  we 
who  let  ourselves  be  accomodated  by  the  system  are 
in  a  glass  house,  and  must  conduct  ourselves  accord- 
ingly. Were  each  traveller  nowadays  to  set  up  his 
own  vine  and  fig-tree  wherever  he  passed  the  night, 
travel  would  soon  become  unfashionable  :  the  edge 
of  personal  and  national  individuality  would  remain 
unblunted,  and  the  thousands  of  small  people  who 
now  try  to  swallow  the  great  world,  would  respect 
the  limits  of  their  own  horizon,  and  take  the  faults 
of  foreigners  for  granted.  But  if,  as  seems  probable, 
the  current  of  life  continues  to  set  towards  cosmopol- 
itanism, the  time  will  come  when  the  lodging-house 
keeper  will  have  it  all  his  own  way,  and  no  houses 
except  lodging-houses  will  exist.  In  that  day  we 
may  look  forward  to  a  universal  speaking  of  one 


S60  SAXON   STUDIES. 

another's  language,  wearing  of  one  another's  clothes, 
minding  of  one  another's  business,  drinking  (Saxons 
do  it  already)  out  of  one  another's  beer-mugs, 
making  love  to  one  another's  sweethearts, —  and  so 
forth.  The  broad  enlightenment  of  the  species  will 
dazzle  into  invisibility  the  petty  distinctions  of  meum 
and  tuum,  us  and  our  neighbors;  and  we  shall  be 
able  to  declare  with  our  transcendental  philosopher, 
"  The  Soul  knows  no  Persons." 

In  our  present  comparatively  unilluminated  con- 
dition, however,  the  advantages  of  lodging-houses 
still  lack  full  recognition.  Some  reminiscence  of 
the  old-fashioned  laws  of  hospitality  embarrass  us : 
we  have  heard  or  read  of  the  romantic  and  delicate 
relations  of  guest  and  entertainer,  and  are  perhaps 
conscious  of  a  certain  awkwardness  in  the  attempt  to 
reconcile  these  with  the  straightforward  modern  plan 
of  adjusting  mutual  courtesies  by  an  appeal  to  cash, 
having  previously  insured  their  observance  by  sign- 
ing a  contract.  Nothing  can  be  more  hospitable 
.  than  the  Dresden  lodging-house  keeper  (to  take  an 
example)  when  we  first  encounter  him,  —  and  indeed 
at  all  times,  if  we  do  but  consent  to  adopt  his  views 
on  whatever  questions  may  arise  between  us.  He 
is  cordial,  full  of  smiles,  compliments,  and  graceful 
attentions,  presses  you  to  come  in,  to  sit  down,  to 
remain,  to  make  his  dwelling  your  permanent  abode. 


TYPES   CIVIL  AND   UNCIVIL.  361 

To  throw  cold  water  on  such  advances  would  be 
churlish ;  and  yet  —  why  does  he  love  you  at  such 
short  notice,  and  why  wanders  his  eye  over  the  con- 
tour of  your  pocket?  Your  desire  to  feel  flattered 
is  defeated  by  the  suspicion  that  under  guise  of 
studying  your  welfare,  he  is  on  the  scent  of  his  own 
profit.  In  the  teeth  of  his  smiles  you  must  be  cold, 
critical,  and  distrustful.  He  conducts  you  from  room 
to  room,  pointing  out  luxuries  at  every  step,  with 
touching  confidence  in  your  appreciation  ;  but, 
whether  really  pleased  or  not,  principle  requires  you 
to  grumble  and  find  fault,  and  turn  up  your  nose 
the  higher,  the  faster  he  talks.  All  the  while, 
those  troublesome  old  reminiscences  are  hanging 
about,  making  you  feel  mean  and  humiliated.  There 
comes  an  impulse  (which  you  resist)  to  be  gra- 
cious and  chivalrous  if  it  doubles  your  rent !  a 
fancy  that,  cost  what  it  would,  you  would  be  the 
better  for  it  in  the  end.  Cynicism  and  a  critical 
spirit,  indulged  in  their  proper  place,  agreeably  tickle 
the  self-esteem,  but  carry  no  satisfaction  here. 
Though  you  malign  the  world  with  Diogenes  or 
Apemantius,  it  is  not  from  their  intellectual  or  phil- 
osophic stand-point,  but  only  because  you  are  dealing 
with  a  lodging-house  keeper.  You  are  shocked  at 
what  seems  a  parody  and  degradation  of  heretofore 
sacred  rites,  and  distressed  to  find  the  evil  influence 


362  SAXON   STUDIES. 

reacting  upon  yourself,  and  weighing  you  down  to  its 

own  level. 

But  this  is  all  a  mistake,  due  to  confusing  parody 
with  progress.  Hospitality  is  antiquated ;  it  has 
lived  too  long,  and  no  longer  accords  with  the  spirit 
of  the  age;  let  it  die  out  of  the  world  and  out  of 
mankind's  recollection  at  once.  The  lodging-house 
is  its  legitimate  successor,  suited  to  our  present  con- 
dition and  requirements.  Out  of  deference  to  our 
human  weakness,  it  still  masquerades  in  the  ward- 
robe of  its  ancestor ;  but  will  ere  long  don  its  own 
garments,  and  frankly  assume  the  throne.  Dresden 
lodging-house  keepers  have  been  accused  of  avarice, 
dishonesty,  and  I  know  not  how  many  other  vices 
and  crimes  ;  whereas  they  are  all  honorable  men,  and 
full  of  humanity,  if  you  treat  them  in  the  right  way. 
Let  one  example  stand  for  a  thousand  similar  cases. 
The  wife  of  a  friend  of  mine  was  lying  at  the  crisis 
of  a  fever,  her  life  depending  on  absolute  quiet  and 
repose.  As  luck  would  have  it,  the  landlord  discov- 
ered, at  this  juncture,  a  defect  in  one  of  the  water- 
pipes  in  the  etage  overhead,  and  very  properly  set 
the  plumbers  at  work  to  repair  it.  It  so  happened 
that  the  defect  in  question  was  at  a  point  in  the  floor 
directly  above  the  sick  woman's  bed,  and  all  the 
hammering,  sawing,  racket,  and  clatter  beat  straight 
down  into  her  brain.  Her  husband,  without  stop- 


TYPES   CIVIL   AND   UNCIVIL.  363 

ping  to  think  whether  or  not  he  were  taking  a  lib- 
erty, ran  up-stairs,  represented  to  the  landlord  that 
his  wife  was  wavering  between  life  and  death,  that 
this  noise  would  be  fatal  to  her,  and  must  therefore 
stop  at  once.  To  this  the  landlord  replied  that  he 
was  surprised,  that  he  was  sorry,  that  he  could  not 
believe  Madame  would  be  seriously  incommoded,  and 
that  at  all  events  he  had  hired  the  workmen  for  the 
day,  and  could  not  afford  to  dismiss  them.  The  hus- 
band offered  to  pay  the  workmen's  bill  on  the  spot ; 
but  the  landlord  explained,  good-naturedly,  that  the 
flooring  had  already  been  torn  up,  and  that  it  would 
never  do  to  leave  matters  in  confusion  on  so  slight  a 
pretext.  The  husband,  unable  to  hold  his  own  with 
the  phlegmatic  Saxon,  here  lost  his  temper,  and  re- 
newed his  demand  in  the  most  peremptory  manner. 
The  landlord  rejoined  with  spirit,  that  the  Herr  was 
not  in  America  but  in  Dresden ;  that  in  Dresden 
there  were  laws ;  and  that  Dresden  citizens  might  do 
what  they  pleased  with  their  own  water-pipes.  The 
husband,  driven  to  his  wit's  end,  resorted  to  threats ; 
he  told  the  landlord,  with  an  impressive  grimness  of 
tone  and  manner,  that  if  the  noise  continued,  and  his 
wife's  illness  ended  fatally,  that  he  (the  husband) 
would,  in  defiance  of  all  laws,  American,  Saxon,  or 
Divine,  shoot  the  landlord  dead.  This  put  an  end  to 
the  noise  and  to  the  dispute  at  once.  The  landlord, 


364  SAXON   STUDIES. 

profoundly  touched,  dismissed  his  plumbers  -without 
another  word.  It  is  the  richest  characters  who  must 
be  probed  most  deeply  ere  they  betray  their  wealth. 
This  worthy  Saxon,  to  a  less  persistent  and  search- 
ing analyst  than  my  friend,  might  have  appeared 
selfish,  inconsiderate,  almost  unfeeling.  Yet  mark, 
when  the  right  chord  was  touched,  how  swift  and 
full  was  the  response !  how  the  tender  Saxon  heart 
of  him  throbbed  and  surrendered  !  Believe  it,  Dres- 
den holds  many  a  soul  like  this, — slow  to  succumb 
to  empty  representations  and  barren  argument,  but 
electric  in  its  recognition  of  an  appeal  to  the  vital 
interest  which  it  shares  with  all  mankind.  I  cannot 
justify  my  American  friend,  especially  since  his  wife 
recovered ;  but  he  must  be  credited  with  having  shed 
light  upon  an  episode  of  human  nature  which  the 
world  should  not  willingly  let  die. 


TYPES   CIVIL  AND   UNCIVIL.  865 


XL 


I  HAVE  left  myself  scarce  a  pigeon-hole  in  which 
to  put  the  policemen,  and  the  letter-carriers  —  men 
of  honest  and  respectable  professions,  for  whom,  in 
spite  of  the  inconvenience  and  anxiety  which  the 
course  of  their  duty  often  compels  them  to  put  us  to, 
no  one  can  help  feeling  a  regard.  To  be  a  letter- 
carrier  must,  I  should  fancy,  be  a  fascinating  occupa- 
tion. You  hold  in  your  hand,  like  destiny,  the  joy, 
sorrow,  good  luck,  and  bad  luck  of  hundreds  of 
people,  high  and  low ;  and  they  cannot  but  associate 
you  with  the  checkered  light  and  shadow  which  you 
bring.  It  were  difficult  to  speak  too  romantically  on 
this  subject.  Before  the  war,  Dresden  letter-carriers 
wore  canary-colored  coats  and  azure  trousers,  —  a  uni- 
form distinguishable  at  any  distance,  and  as  gro- 
tesque as  could  be  imagined.  But  not  the  wearer  of 
the  finest  uniform  in  the  world  was  ever  watched  by 
so  many  anxious  and  eager  eyes,  —  his  pace  and 
bearing  so  commented  on,  —  his  turns,  pauses,  and 
deflections  so  canvassed.  Bless  the  pld  blue-legged 
canaries !  What  sad  and  happy  moments  they  have 


366  SAXON   STUDIES. 

brought  me.  I  cannot  forgive  Prussia  for  stripping 
them  of  their  blue  and  yellow  feathers,  and  condemn- 
ing them  to  hop  about  in  indistinguishable  indigo. 
These  letter-carriers  must  not  be  confounded  with 
other  Saxon  post-office  employees  and  officials,  in 
whom  the  insolence  and  red-tape  of  office  is  flagrant ; 
and,  what  is  more  serious,  who  labor  under  suspicion 
of  habitual  tampering  with  the  mails.  Whether  this 
be  explainable  on  grounds  of  governmental  and.  .polit- 
ical exigency,  or  of  mere  private  enterprise,  I  know 
not.  But  during  the  latter  two  years  of  my  stay  in 
Dresden,  I  lost  more  letters  than  in  all  the  rest  of  my 
letter  experience  put  together ;  and  though,  in  many 
cases,  every  possible  inquiry  and  exertion  was  made 
towards  their  recovery,  it  was  in  no  instance  success- 
ful. On  one  occasion  the  missing  article  was  a  small 
packet  containing  a  jewel  of  some  value ;  this  was 
formally  registered  at  the  Dresden  post-office,  and  a 
description  of  the  jewel  entered  in  a  book.  There 
stands  the  entry  to  this  day,  unless  some  patriotic 
Saxon  has  torn  the  leaf  out;  but  the  jewel  has  van- 
ished as  utterly  as  Cleopatra's  pearl ;  and  no  one 
could  be  found  responsible  for  its  disappearance.  I 
should  not  recall  an  incident  giving  rise  to  such  un- 
welcome suggestions  as  does  this,  had  not  a  some- 
what extended  inquiry  established  the  fact  that  my 
post-office  fortunes,  such  as  they  were,  were  very  far 
indeed  from  being  exceptional. 


TYPES   CIVIL  AND   UNCIVIL.  367 

The  police  are  certainly  superior  in  most  respects 
both  to  our  own  and  to  the  English  force,  —  I  speak 
only  of  the  rank  and  file,  —  the  heads  of  depart- 
ments are  scarcely  up  to  the  average.  The  men  are 
not  brawny  giants  ;  their  physique  is  rather  slight 
than  otherwise ;  but  there  no  one  (save  now  and  then 
a  recalcitrant  American  or  Englishman)  ever  dreams 
of  resisting  their  authority.  They  are  uniformly 
courteous,  low-voiced,  long-suffering,  imperturbable, 
and  densely  stupid,  aside  from  the  black  and  white 
of  their  instructions.  Discipline,  their  awful  god- 
father, has  so  filled  them  with  the  voice  of  his  com- 
mands, that  all  such  innate  and  peculiar  mental  ac- 
tion as  they  may  originally  have  been  capable  of  is 
forced  to  the  wall.  They  pace  to  and  fro  with  a 
mild,  emasculated  sobriety  of  demeanor,  oblivious  of 
their  personal  selves,  and  alive  only  with  a  spectral, 
official  life,  inspired  by  government.  They  have  on 
white  gloves,  and  carry  their  hands  peacefully  clasped 
behind  their  backs.  But  why  they,  of  all  men, 
should  be  made  to  wear  helmets  and  swords,  is  hard 
to  imagine.  The  swords,  of  course,  are  tied  into 
their  sheaths  by  an  insoluble  white  knot  about  their 
hilts  ;  the  helmets  are  furnished  with  a  curved  Greek 
crest,  —  a  tempting  handle  to  wrench  them  off  by ! 
These  accoutrements  are  purely  symbolic  ;  but  what 
puzzles  me  is,  how  they  first  came  into  use.  Was 


368  SAXON   STUDIES. 

there  once  a  time  when  they  had  a  practical  signifi- 
cance ?  It  is  startling  even  to  dream  of  such  an 
epoch  of  devastation  and  bloodshed ;  but  either  that, 
or  else  we  must  adopt  the  yet  more  appalling  theory 
that  something  of  the  kind  is  in  prospect.  When 
that  day  comes,  however,  I  doubt  whether  the  police 
will  be  to  the  fore;  the  soldiers  will  transact  the 
business.  Indeed,  there  can  be  little  doubt  that  it  is 
the  monstrous  overgrowth  of  the  military  element 
which  has  robbed  the  civic  guardians  of  their  virility. 
In  bygone  years,  the  latter  may  have  been  a  very 
truculent  and  hectoring  set  of  fellows,  with  their  hel- 
mets cocked  over  their  ears,  and  their  weapons  loose 
in  the  sheath ;  but  the  bayonet  and  the  pickelhaube 
have  changed  all  that.  When  the  policeman  has 
laid  down  his  club,  't  is  vanity  to  gird  himself  with 
steel.  His  proper  arms  thenceforth  are  the  pen  and 
inkhorn.  There  is  a  variety  of  the  Dresden  police- 
man known  as  Nacht-Waechter ;  they  appear  after 
dark,  armed  with  bunches  of  keys,  and  hush  up  all 
noisy  persons  —  belated  students,  and  such  like  ;  but 
there  is  no  more  of  the  true  Beak  about  them  than 
about  their  daylight  brethren  ;  there  is  no  Five  Points 
in  the  capital  of  Saxony,  nor  Seven  Dials  either. 


TYPES   CIVIL  AND   UNCIVIL.  369 


XII. 

ONCE,  in  the  first  months  of  my  Saxon  sojourn,  I 
was  hurrying  down  See  Strasse,  when  I  found  my 
way  blocked  by  three  leisurely  persons,  —  two  gentle- 
men with  a  lady  between  them,  —  who  monopolized 
the  entire  breadth  of  the  sidewalk.  They  were  pro- 
ceeding in  the  same  direction  as  myself,  so  I  could 
see  only  their  backs.  The  outside  gentleman  and 
the  lady  appeared  to  be  elderly  people,  and  toddled 
somewhat  infirmly  onward  arm  in  arm.  The  inside 
gentleman  was  stout  and  fashionably  dressed,  and  in 
the  prime  of  life,  and  seemed  acquainted  with  every- 
body ;  for  he  was  continually  lifting  his  hat  and  nod- 
ding to  this  one  and  that,  and  receiving  polite  obei- 
sances in  return. 

I  was  in  haste,  and  the  gutter  was  muddy,  for  it 
had  been  raining  ;  so  I  touched  the  elderly  gentle- 
man on  the  shoulder,  and  as  he  moved  a  little  aside, 
I  thanked  him  and  slipped  by.  At  the  same  mo- 
ment I  caught  a  glimpse  of  his  face,  and  had  the 
mortification  of  finding  myself  in  the  ridiculous  at- 
titude of  disputing  his  own  sidewalk  with  King  John 

24 


370  SAXON   STUDIES. 

of  Saxony.  The  mild  old  man  only  smiled  and 
toddled  on,  and  bis  Queen  was  no  less  lenient  than 
he;  But  the  punctilious  attendant,  who  did  their 
saluting  for  the  Royal  couple,  gorgonized  me  from 
head  to  foot,  and  would  have  cut  my  ears  off  two 
hundred  years  ago. 

But  for  the  misfortune  of  their  royalty,  this  his- 
toric family  would  be  as  desirable  acquaintances  as 
any  in'  the  kingdom.  They  are  quiet,  courteous, 
educated,  and  refined,  and  what  speaks  yet  more 
highly  in  their  favor,  they  have  the  name  of  being 
rather  unpopular  with  their  people.  Nor  are  they 
mere  pallid  bundles  of  etiquette  and  accomplish- 
ment, devoid  of  personal  character  and  individuality  ; 
they  possess  distinct,  recognizable  human  traits ;  in- 
deed the  present  king,  Albert,  is  a  man  of  more  than 
average  pith,  who  makes  himself  soundly  felt  within 
his  domains,  and  outside  of  them  also,  to  a  good  de- 
gree. 

About  a  year  before  the  old  king's  death,  he  cel- 
ebrated his  golden  wedding.  The  festivities  lasted 
four  or  five  days,  beneath  a  solemn  but  unraining 
November  cloud,  which  afforded  an  artistic  back- 
ground to  the  fluttering  miles  of  painted  bunting 
which  gaudily  draped  the  sombre  town.  The  news- 
papers announced  the  programme  some  time  in  ad- 
vance, albeit  in  such  courtly,  polysyllabic  language 


TYPES   CIVIL   AND   UNCIVIL.  371 

as  was  undecipherable  to  foreign  understandings 
save  through  the  dictionary.  Endless  good  society, 
including  the  Emperor  of  Germany,  was  promised 
us  ;  and  besides  the  grand  wedding-service  in  the 
palace,  there  were  to  be  receptions,  music,  banquets, 
theatrical  performances,  two  great  balls,  constant  il- 
lumination of  the  city  by  night,  and  bell-ringing 
night  and  day  ;  the  whole  to  wind  up  with  a  colossal 
torch-light  procession  I  know  not  how  many  miles 
long.  It  is  only  fair  to  say  that  the  performance  of 
this  fine  programme  even  outdid  its  promise. 

Banners  forty  feet  long  streamed  fourfold  from 
every  tower  and  dome  top.  The  main  thoroughfare 
dazzled  with  flags,  festoons,  medallions,  and  mottoes ; 
enormous  garlands  hung  clear  across  the  narrow 
street,  supporting  shields  emblazoned  with  allegoric 
devices.  Each  shop  window  displayed  its  busts  of  the 
royal  Jubel-Paar,  egregiously  flattered,  and  swathed  in 
patriotic  colors.  Small  brass  and  tin  Fest-Medallions 
were  hawked  about  by  the  ten  thousand.  Gorgeous 
military  gentlemen  of  various  nationalities  thronged 
the  dense  sidewalks,  their  white  plumes  and  gilded 
helmets  emerging  above  the  crowd.  In  the  Schloss- 
Platz,  opposite  the  bridge,  were  erected  two  canvas 
obelisks,  all  scarlet,  blue  and  gold,  fifty  feet  in  height, 
surmounted  with  golden  crowns,  and  supported  at 
the  base  by  four  allegoric  statues,  of  meditative  as- 


372  SAXON   STUDIES. 

pect,  as  if  overwhelmed  by  their  own  significance. 
The  bridge  beyond  pursued  the  narrow  directness 
of  its  way  through  a  gorgeous  storm  of  many-hued 
flaglets.  In  short,  dim  old  Dresden  was  transfigured; 
the  good  Haroun  Al-Raschid  would  have  found  him- 
self much  at  home  there.  I  could  not  avoid  com- 
paring this  coherent  splendor  of  artistic  adornment 
with  the  hysteric  dowdiness  of  my  own  New  York 
and  Boston  during  the  height  of  a  political  celebra- 
tion. But  for  the  chaste  integrity  of  the  politics 
themselves,  the  contrast  might  have  led  me  to  de- 
spair of  the  Republic. 

On  Saturday  I  stood  in  one  of  the  largest,  dens- 
est, and  best-behaved  crowds  I  ever  beheld,  to  see 
Kaiser  Wilhelm  drive  into  town.  A  narrow  carriage 
way  was  kept  clear  from  the  Georgen  Thor  to  the 
bridge.  Near  my  stand-point  was  a  policeman,  whose 
duty  consisted  in  getting  the  narrow  stream  of  peo- 
ple, who  were  on  their  way  across  the  bridge,  to 
keep  moving.  He  was  a  man  of  men.  He  had 
reduced  his  profession  to  a  science.  He  regarded 
the  human  race  not  in  the  light  of  a  vicious  ani- 
mal with  a  head  to  be  broken  ;  he  divided  them 
into  classes,  as  the  timid,  the  tractable,  the  polite, 
the  reasonable,  the  quick,  the  pliant,  the  obstinate, 
the  sluggish,  the  stupid,  the  defiant,  —  and  was  never 
at  a  loss  to  manage  any.  He  would  entreat,  request, 


TYPES   CIVIL   AND   UNCIVIL.  373 

enjoin,  urge,  argue,  expostulate,  command,  -cajole, 
condole,  reproach,  wheedle,  denounce,  and  threaten; 
always  fitting  his  appeal  to  the  case  with  rare  tact 
and  wisdom,  and  invariably  carrying  his  point  with- 
out a  hair's  breadth  to  spare  either  way.  The  effect 
of  his  pill  was  uniform,  —  to  move  on,  —  but  the 
methods  of  administering  it  were  innumerable. 

Meanwhile  carriages  after  carriages  were  passing 
over  the  bridge  on  their  way  to  meet  the  Emperor 
at  the  Neustadt  station,  coachmanned  and  footman- 
ned  with  yellow  liveries  and  irreproachable  calves. 
One  unpretending  little  coup6  had  the  king  in  it, 
in  general's  uniform,  touching  his  cap  and  smiling  in 
his  amiable  way,  but  looking  old  —  almost  senile. 
As  time  went  on,  the  already  solid  crowd  got  yet 
solider.  On  the  opposite  side  of  the  carriage  way 
stood  a  large  inert  young  woman,  absolutely  impas- 
sive and  imperious,  her  face  round,  smooth,  and 
smiling,  —  who,  while  undergoing,  a  fierce  shoving, 
wrenching,  punching,  and  pinching  from  a  meagre, 
red-faced,  angry-eyebrowed  harridan  behind  her,  did 
not  for  one  instant  forego  the  serene  beatitude  of 
her  expression.  Another  young  person,  in  squeez- 
ing through  a  place  too  narrow  for  her,  got  through 
indeed,  but,  terrible  to  relate,  left  her  petticoats  be- 
hind her !  There  was  a  general  broad  smile  at  this 
mishap. 

Suddenly  came  a  stir  and  a  hum  —  their  Royal  and 


374  SAXON   STUDIES. 

Imperial  Highnesses  were  approaching.  A  golden 
coachman,  golden  footmen,  prancing  horses,  four 
elderly  gentlemen  in  bestarred  uniforms,  cocked  hats, 
white  plumes,  —  driving  at  full  speed,  —  "  Der  Kai- 
ser ! "  said  some  one.  Men  cheered  and  threw  up 
their  hats,  women  shook  handkerchiefs  and  screamed, 
a  wave  of  enthusiasm  surged  through  the  crowd,  and 
every  one's  toes  were  trodden  on.  A  few  sharp- 
sighted  persons  smiled  secretly,  having  perceived 
that  it  was  not  the  great  German  Emperor  at  all, 
but  only  a  couple  of  brace  of  his  creatures,  prepar- 
ing the  way  for  him  ! 

This  mistake  so  mortified  and  depressed  the  pro- 
fane vulgar,  that  there  was  no  demonstration  left  for 
Wilhelm  when  he  actually  appeared.  He  was  in  an 
open  carriage,  alone  with  the  king,  two  outriders  in 
advance,  bouncing  on  the  hardest  trotting  of  horses 
as  only  royal  and  imperial  outriders  can  bounce. 
The  king,  bent,  dark,  wrinkled,  skinny,  with  sunken 
mouth  and  elderly  smile,  was  in  sharp  contrast  with 
the  erect,  square-chested,  sunburnt  Emperor.  The 
latter's  face  was  firm  and  vigorous,  his  eyes  intol- 
erant and  haughty  even  in  smiling,  his  white  mous- 
tache curved  upward.  He  was  a  finer  and  sturdier 
man  than  I  was  prepared  to  see,  —  looked  not  sixty, 
though  he  was  then  seventy-five,  and  four  years  the 
king's  senior.  But  his  expression  is  not  pleasant  — 
too  arrogant  for  mere  flesh  and  blood.  I  wonder 


TYPES   CIVIL   AND    UNCIVIL.  375 

how  he  gets  over  the  humiliating  fact  that  he  is 
fashioned  after  no  better  a  model  than  mankind  in 
general  —  the  model,  namely,  of  the  Creator?  Per- 
haps the  question  is  ill-natured,  but  human  charity 
is  scarce  lofty  enough  to  deal  on  equal  terms  with 
rulers  of  nations. 

The  golden  ceremony  took  place  at  ten  o'clock 
the  following  morning.  Seldom  does  one  see  col- 
lected together  so  many  high-bred,  high-conditioned, 
thoroughly  clean  persons !  for  certainly  there  is  a 
world  of  difference  between  those  who  habitually 
pay  scrupulous  attention  to  their  toilet,  and  those 
who  only  do  so  intermittently.  Few  of  the  women 
were  beautiful,  but  they  were  so  delightfully  digni- 
fied and  composed  !  Every  lady  above  the  rank  of 
countess  had  a  high,  delicate  nose  :  the  higher  the 
rank,  the  higher  the  nose,  generally.  It  is  the  badge 
of  female  aristocracy,  but  does  not  hold  good  with 
the  men.  I  was  especially  pleased  with  the  pages, 
—  smooth-faced,  rosy -cheeked  boys,  wholesome  as 
milk  and  roses,  dressed  in  scarlet  and  gold-lace,  with 
white  satin  knee-breeches  and  silk  stockings.  There 
was  a  stately  little  princess,  ten  years  old,  who  took 
charge  of  the  old  queen's  enormous  train.  The 
queen,  in  spite  of  her  moire-antique,  golden  myrtle- 
wreath,  pearls,  diamonds,  and  lace,  was  not  a  cheer 
ing  spectacle.  Golden  weddings,  after  all,  are  more 
repulsive  than  pathetic.  It  is  beautiful  to  drearn  of 


376  SAXON   STUDIES. 

two  souls  faithful  to  each  other  through  fifty  years  ; 
but  to  see  the  worn  and  withered  carcases  in  which 
those  souls  are  confined  grotesquely  rehearsing  the 
holy  ceremony  that  united  their  youth,  is  not  beauti- 
ful, nor  in  good  taste,  methinks. 

At  twelve  I  was  in  the  streets  once  more,  watch- 
ing carriagefulls  of  aristocracy  drive  homewards. 
Some  carriages  contained  men  only,  with  grave  and 
indifferent  visages ;  where  ladies  were  alone,  all  was 
animated  conversation  and  laughter ;  while  a  mixture 
of  both  sexes  produced  formal  smiles  and  stilled  re- 
marks. Such  is  human  nature.  I  must  pass  over 
the  remaining  festivities ;  though  the  illumination 
was  more  brilliant,  extensive,  and  -intense  than  was 
ever  seen  before, — the  streets,  inches  deep  in  mud, 
being  rendered  as  dry  as  lava  shortly  after  the  thing 
was  set  going,  while  the  sky  overhead  glowed  dull 
red,  as  though  lit  up  by  a  volcano.  As  for  the 
torchlight  procession,  it  was  the  occasion  of  the  near- 
est approach  to  a  riot  that  happened  throughout  the 
celebration.  The  night  fell  so  dark  and  gloomy 
that  all  gorgeous  memories  to  be  conjured  up  could 
scarce  enlighten  it.  Next  morning,  however,  on  look- 
ing out  of  my  window,  I  saw  that  graceful  nature 
had  draped  the  earth  in  snow.  It  glistened  crisp 
and  sparkling  oyer  all  the  city :  and  the  re-married 
king  and  queen  might  take  the  first  steps  of  their 
further  life  over  its  spotless  expanse. 


TYPES   CIVIL   AND  UNCIVIL.  377 


XIII. 

SINCE  I  have  gone  so  far  with  good  King  John,  I 
will  follow  him  to  the  grave,  and  then  take  leave  of 
him,  and  of  Dresden,  forever. 

Never  was  heard  such  a  bell-ringing  !  Had  bells 
not  existed  before  our  time,  we  should  not  have  had 
genius  to  invent  them.  They  are  the  outcome  of 
an  age  when  people's  hearts  vibrated  readily  and  har- 
moniously, and  emotions  were  grandly  and  sono- 
rously outspoken.  The  popular  joy  and  sorrow  then 
found  fitting  utterance  in  them.  Now,  though  the 
bells  are  as  well  made  as  ever,  the  general  heart  has 
cracks  in  it,  and  does  not  vibrate  well ;  and  so  we 
sometimes  feel  that  our  bells  are  more  moved  than 
we  are.  Pull  away,  however,  worthy  ringers  !  It  is 
as  well,  perhaps,  that  we  wag  our  iron  tongues  after 
our  fleshly  ones  have  ceased  to  bear  them  out.  They 
put  us  on  our  mettle,  and  make  us  feel  better  than 
we  are. 

The  principle  upon  which  Dresden  bell-ringing  is 
carried  on  seems  a  little  obscure.  In  event  of  fire. 
a  slow,  measured  ding-dong  arises,  better  calculated, 


878  SAXON   STUDIES. 

I  should  fancy,  to  put  the  firemen  asleep  than  to 
summon  them  to  the  scene  of  disaster.  But  let 
there  be  a  funeral,  and  the  steeples  send  forth  an 
uproar  such  as  might  fitly  welcome  the  millennium 
or  wake  the  dead,  but  can  scarcely  soothe  the  lat- 
ter to  their  last  rest.  As  regards  this  particular 
funeral,  however,  it  may  not  have  been  so  inap- 
propriate. Royalty  is  less  solid  than  it  used  to 
be,  —  indeed,  the  suspicion  grows  that  it  is  hollow, 
and  that  its  voice  is  big  in  proportion  as  it  feels 
itself  shaken.  Viewed  in  this  light,  there  was  a 
subtle  propriety  in  giving  the  bell-ringers  a  prom- 
inent part  in  the  last  rites  above  the  poor  old  mon- 
arch's grave. 

Some  of  the  circumstances  attending  his  decease 
were  such  as  might  gratify  a  cynic.  For  a  fortnight 
before  his  death  it  was  known  that  die  he  must — 
any  moment  might  bring  the  fatal  tidings ;  and  it 
was  also  known  that  during  six  weeks  following  the 
fatal  moment  all  amusements,  public  or  private,  must 
be  intermitted.  Why  was  it  that,  from  the  first  inti- 
mation of  danger  up  to  the  night  of  the  king's  death, 
there  was  an  unprecedented  succession  of  gayeties  in 
the  fore-doomed  capital  ?  Had  the  old  gentleman 
been  able  to  hold  his  own  at  death's  door  for  six 
months,  he  would  have  made  the  fortune  of  every 
amusement-monger  in  Dresden.  I  myself  walked 


TYPES   CIVIL   AND   UNCIVIL.  379 

two  miles  on  a  cold,  damp  night,  to  see  the  per- 
formance at  an  American  circus,  for  the  sole  reason, 
so  far  as  I  know,  ^hat  he  died  thirty-six  hours 
afterwards.  No,  in  spite  of  craped  banners  and 
badges,  black-edged  newspapers  and  lugubrious  proc- 
lamations, his  people  never  mourned  him.  They 
mourned  because  they  must  hear  no  music  and  see 
110  Vorstellungen  for  six  weeks.  These  forms  and 
shows  of  grief  were  good  when  kings  were  the  State ; 
but  now  it  is  a  mockery  to  prop  up  the  poor  old  royal 
clay  upon  a  gaudy  bier,  and  paint  the  ghastly  cheeks 
with  the  hues  of  life,  and  call  it  honoring  the  dead. 

For  the  very  reason,  however,  that  these  things 
are  felt  to  be  mere  formalities,  they  must  not  be 
dispensed  with.  We  must  sacrifice  to  our  hypocrisy 
—  not  to  do  so  were  scandalous.  Perhaps,  indeed, 
did  we  not  rely  upon  bells,  guns,  and  torchlight 
proceedings  to  do  our  mourning  for  us  in  the  most 
orthodox  and  respectable  manner,  we  might  try  our 
hand  at  mourning  ourselves,  once  in  a  while.  Were 
we  to  be  scandalously  negligent  of  social  proprieties 
for  a  time,  we  might  develop  a  new  code  of  morals 
and  etiquette,  more  true  and  wholesome,  if  less 
mawkishly  sentimental,  than  is  the  present  one. 

When  the  king  celebrated  his  golden  wedding, 
busts  and  photographs  of  him  crowded  every  shop 
window ;  the  same  reappeared  now  that  he  was 


380  SAXON   STUDIES. 

dead.  Again  were  the  streets  crowded  with  people, 
staring  at  the  mourning  decorations,  and  pleased 
with  novelty.  Again  the  bridge  and  wharf  were 
thronged,  to  witness  the  arrival  of  the  vessel  that 
bore  the  royal  corpse.  The  night  was  damp  and 
dismal,  and  vantage  points  were  bought  by  specula- 
tors and  sold  at  a  premium,  —  a  window  in  the 
Bruelschen  Concert  Hall  bringing  ten  thalers.  The 
king  had  died  at  Eillnitz,  six  miles  up  the  river ;  the 
steamer  was  draped  In  black  crape ;  around  the 
coffin  stood  pages,  each  bearing  a  torch;  while  a 
hundred  liveried  retainers,  also  with  torches,  lined 
the  bulwarks.  Along  the  banks  of  the  river  were 
ranged  thousands  of  children,  uplifting  their  small 
voices,  as  the  sable  craft  swept  by,  in  funeral  hymns, 
—  a  graceful  fancy,  if  we  question  not  too  closely 
what  must  have  been  the  children's  condition  when 
they  got  home  again.  As  the  vessel  neared  the 
landing  amidst  the  silence  of  the  vast  black  crowd, 
every  one  of  whom  (for  the  arrival  was  hours  later 
than  as  announced)  was  sick  or  sullen  with  cold  and 
fatigue,  the  first  cannon  thundered  across  the  river, 
and  all  the  towers  of  Dresden  sprang  into  clamorous 
life.  For  an  hour,  while  the  funeral  procession  was 
passing  from  the  landing  to  the  cathedral,  the  peal 
of  bells  and  cannon  slackened  not. 

Twenty-four  officers  of    the  royal   army  bore  the 


TYPES   CIVIL   ANI>  UNCIVIL.  381 

coffin  ashore,  and  slowly  up  the  slope  to  the  cathe- 
dral square.  The  way  was  lined  with  the  Saxon 
infantry  and  cavalry,  who  must  take  oath  of  fealty 
to  the  new  king,  Albert,  to-morrow.  The  procession 
flared  with  torches,  to  which  the  blackness  of  earth 
and  sky  gave  full  effect.  The  only  music  was  the 
beat  of  muffled  drums  —  a  strange  sound  ;  the  soldier 
who  invented  it  must  have  been  a  poet  as  well.  So 
the  doors  of  the  cathedral  were  reached,  and  doubt- 
less the  chilled  and  muddy-footed  populace  would 
fain  have  followed  the  coffin  inside :  but  this  was  to 
be  the  privilege  of  few.  The  great  interior  looked 
like  a  fairy  palace  —  full  of  soft  light,  incense,  and 
sweet  music  ;  while  the  high  altar  sparkled  with  gold 
and  precious  stones.  The  blackness  of  the  funeral 
train,  crawling  up  the  central  aisle,  contrasted  sol- 
emnly with  the  ecclesiastical  magnificence  through 
which  it  moved.  The  difference  between  the  scene 
here  and  that  which  had  'just  passed  outside,  was 
wide  indeed.  There,  the  vastness  and  dark  uncer- 
tainty of  the  surroundings  had  dwarfed  the  pag- 
eant ;  here,  the  pageant  gloomed  the  surroundings. 
Without,  there  was  compassion  at  this  last  appear- 
ance among  his  people  of  the  mortal  sovereign ; 
within,  the  emotion  was  awe ;  the  shadow  of  death 
lurked  behind  the  marble  columns  and  concentrated 
beneath  the  velvet  pall.  A  more  impressive  spectacle 


382  SAXON   STUDIES. 

than  a  royal  funeral  in  a  Roman  Catholic  cathedral 
is  seldom  met  with.  In  addition  to  what  is  actually 
beheld,  we  must  needs  bend  beneath  the  weight  of  all 
the  moralizing  upon  the  vanities  of  earthly  greatness 
that  has  been  done  since  kings  began ;  and  however 
lightly  we  may  smile  at  our  emotion  next  morning, 
it  was  none  the  less  a  reality  last  night. 


MOUNTAINEERING  IN   MINIATURE. 


CHAPTER  VII. 

MOUNTAINEERING  IN  MINIATURE. 
I. 

I  PACKED  my  portmanteau  full  of  silent  hurrahs, 
and  set  off  with  a  lightsome  step  for  the  Boehmischer 
Bahnhof.  It  was  a  divine  June  day,  and  Dresden 
looked  so  bright  that  I  could  almost  have  disbelieved 
its  evil  odor.  The  club  balcony,  on  Victoria  Strasse, 
had  got  its  afternoon  shadow,  and  never  looked  more 
inviting ;  but  there  was  a  train  to  catch,  and  I  might 
not  pause  even  there.  Prager  Strasse,  gay  and 
crowded,  wooed  me  to  loiter  ;  but  I  had  cast  off  for 
good  and  all  the  lazy  leisure  which  a  Dresden  resi- 
dence begets,  and  felt  that  time  was  precious  once 
more.  In  a  few  minutes  I  reached  the  broad,  open 
space  in  front  of  the  Bahnhof,  passed  through  the 
serried  droschkeys  on  stand  there  side  by  side,  bought 
a  ticket  to  Krippen,  and  took  my  seat  in  a  third- 
class  carriage. 

I  had  often  done  the  journey  on  foot;  the  highway 
from  Dresden  to  Saxon  Switzerland  —  about  five- 

52 


386  SAXON  STUDIES. 

and-twenty  miles  —  being  itself  excellent,  while  its 
situation  is  more  or  less  picturesque  throughout. 
The  main  objection  to  it  is  its  openness,  and  the  cir- 
cumstance that  Koenigstein  and  Lillienstein,  the  twin 
rocky  giants  that  sentinel  the  entrance  to  the  moun- 
tainous region,  are  visible  from  the  outset  of  the 
walk,  and  are  a  long  while  in  getting  to  look  nearer. 
For  the  rest,  the  road  traverses  seven  or  eight  tiny 
villages,  and  two  towns  —  Pirna  and  Koenigstein  — 
as  quaint,  crooked,  and  narrow-streeted,  as  heart 
could  desire.  For  many  miles  it  skirts  the  river- 
bank  ;  after  Pirna,  climbs  a  steep  hill,  has  an  up  and 
down  time  of  it  as  far  as  Koenigstein  fortress,  and 
then  plunges  headlong  down  a  straight  incline  — 
stone-paved  and  ridged,  for  the  behoof  of  clamber- 
ing wagons  —  into  Koenigstein  town.  Steep  and 
long  as  is  the  ascent,  it  is  pleasanter  than  the  going 
down ;  the  grade  being  such  that  running  is  danger- 
ous, and  walking  almost  impossible.  Koenigstein 
passed,  highway  and  railroad  run  cheek  by  jowl 
along  the  precipitous  river-bank,  onward  through  the 
heart  of  the  country.  The  road  is  level,  and  para- 
soled with  trees  ;  but  the  squat,  ninepin-shaped 
steeple  of  Schandau  Church,  on  the  opposite  side  of 
the  river,  now  takes  its  turn  in  making  the  walk 
wearisome  by  its  unintermittent  visibility.  The 
scene,  however,  is  really  very  pretty ;  and,  were  it 


MOUNTAINEERING  IN  MINIATURE.  387 

not  that  his  five-and-twenty  miles  beneath  a  sum- 
mer sun  may  have  rendered  the  pedestrian  a  trifle 
captious,  doubtless  he  might  swallow  the  incessant 
steeple  with  more  than  toleration. 

But  it  was  not  my  cue  to  foot  it  on  the  present  oc- 
casion. 'Frequent  pilgrimages  to  and  fro  had  taken 
all  novelty  out  of  the  enterprise ;  not  to  mention 
that  my  portmanteau  did,  strictly  speaking,  have 
some  heavier  things  than  hurrahs  in  it.  So,  for  the 
nonce',  I  chose  the  railway  carriage  ;  the  noisiest,  ug- 
liest, tiresomest,  most  unprivacied  mode  of  convey- 
ance extant ;  but  not  wholly  deficient,  even  in  Sax- 
ony, in  the  exhilaration  of  speed ;  and  never  lacking 
in  broad  variety  of  human  interest.  And,  to  the  end 
of  insuring,  while  I  was  about  it,  the  full  flavor  of 
the  experience,  I  took  a  third-class  ticket  —  an  un- 
failing passport  to  whatever  human  interest  might 
happen  to  be  in  the  way.  First-class  carriages  are 
empty,  in  every  sense  of  the  word  ;  the  seats  may  be 
softly  cushioned,  the  guard  may  salute  whenever  he 
catches  my  eye,  and  request  the  favor  of  my  ticket 
with  such  sweet  cajolery  that  I  feel,  in  giving  it  up, 
as  if  I  were  making  him  happier  than  it  is  right  or 
lawful  for  man  to  be  ;  nevertheless,  the  noise  and 
weariness  remain,  and  there  is  nothing  better  than 
my  own  dignity  to  distract  my  attention  therefrom. 
As  for  the  second  class,  it  can  be  endurable  only 


388  SAXON   STUDIES. 

to  penitents  and  to  second-class  people  ;  the  guard, 
(whose  behavior  admirably  gauges  the  traveller's  so- 
cial estimation  throughout)  now  chats  with  me  on 
terms  of  friendly  equality  ;  while  my  neighbors  are 
hopelessly  unpicturesque  and  ordinary,  yet  of  such 
pretensions  that  I  am  dejected  by  a  doubt  whether 
they  are  not  as  good  as  I  am,  after  all.  No ;  the 
moral  and  mental  depression  brought  on  by  second 
class  outweighs  the  pecuniary  outlay  of  first  and 
third  combined. 

But  the  third  —  the  third  is  romantic  !  It  piques 
the  imagination,  and  gives  the  observation  scope.  I 
fancy  myself  a  peasant ;  I  think  of  my  farm-yard, 
my  oxen,  my  frau,  my  geese,  my  children  ;  of  that 
bargain  got  out  of  Mueller ;  of  that  paltry  advan- 
tage gained  by  Schultze  over  me ;  my  breath  savors 
of  Sauerkraut,  in  my  pocket  is  a  half-eaten  sausage, 
at  supper  I  will  devour  Limburger  Kaese  and  quaff 
einf aches  Bier.  At  the  same  time  I  am  an  observer, 
a  notary  public  of  humorous  traits,  a  diviner  of  rela- 
tions, destinies,  and  antecedents.  My  fellow-pilgrims 
are  unfragrant,  familiar,  talkative,  and  over-numer- 
ous ;  the  bench  we  sit  on  is  hard,  and  the  ticket-col- 
lector is  brusque  and  overbearing ;  nevertheless,  if 
there  must  be  a  human  element  at  all,  let  it  be  as 
thick  and  as  strong  as  possible,  and  let  me  get  as 
near  it  as  I  decently  may.  In  the  long  run,  I  prefer 
my  men  and  women  with  the  crust  off. 


MOUNTAINEERING   IN   MINIATURE.  389 


II. 


SAXON  third-class  vans,  like  some  English  ones, 
are  transversely  divided  into  five  open  compartments, 
each  holding  ten  or  twelve  persons.  In  my  box,  on 
this  trip,  was  a  young  married  couple  of  the  lower 
middle  class,  who  had  not  yet  stopped  being  lovers. 
They  were  in  the  full  tide  of  that  amorous  joyance 
which  only  lower  middle  class,  newly-married  young 
couples,  can  know.  The  girl  was  not  uncomely  — 
clear-eyed  and  complexioned,  and  smoothly  curved ; 
the  young  husband  was  stout  and  earthy,  with  broad 
face,  little  twinkling  eyes,  and  defective  chin.  The 
two  sat  opposite  one  another,  her  knees  clasped  be- 
tween his,  and  hand  in  hand.  They  showed  a  para- 
disaical indifference  to  stranger  eyes,  which  was 
either  coarse  or  touching,  as  the  observer  pleased. 
When  one  looked  out  of  the  window,  so  would  the 
other  ;  and  each  rejoiced  in  the  new  sensation  of  see- 
ing the  world  double,  and  finding  it  vastly  bettered 
thereby.  Such  was  their  mutual  preoccupation  that 
the  guard  had  to  demand  their  tickets  twice  be- 
fore they  could  bring  themselves  to  comprehend  him. 


390  SAXON  STUDIES. 

Truly,  what  should  two  young  lovers,  lately  wed, 
have  to  do  with  such  utilitarian  absurdities  as  rail- 
way-tickets ?  Ostensibly,  indeed,  they  might  be 
booked  for  Bodenbach  or  Prag ;  but  their  real  desti- 
nation had  no  station  on  this  or  any  other  railway. 
Meanwhile,  the  husband  was  puffing  an  unutterably 
villainous  cigar,  and  blowing  the  smoke  of  it  right 
down  his  wife's  pretty  throat.  She  —  dear  little  soul! 
—  flinched  not  a  jot, _  but  swallowed  it  all  with  a 
perfect  love  and  admiration,  such  as  only  women  are 
(or  ever  can  or  ought  to  be)  capable  of. 

My  vis-d-vis  at  the  other  end  of  the  compartment 
was  an  under-sized  Russian  —  a  black-haired,  bristle- 
bearded,  brown-eyed,  round-nosed,  swarthy,  dirty- 
shirted,  little  monster,  who  turned  out  to  be  a  travel- 
ling agent  for  some  cigarette  manufacturing  company. 
The  attrition  of  the  world  had  rubbed  off  whatever 
reserve  he  may  originally  have  possessed,  and  he 
was  inclined  to  be  sociable.  He  began  with  request- 
ing a  light  from  my  cigar,  and  proceeded  to  have  the 
honor  to  inquire  whether  I  were  of  Russian  extrac- 
tion, observing  that  my  features  were  of  the  Russian 
type.  He  meant  it  as  a  compliment,  of  course  ;  but 
it  is  odd  that  a  German,  a  Frenchman,  and  an  Eng- 
lishman should  severally,  and  in  like  manner,  have 
claimed  countrymanship  with  me  on  the  testimony  of 
my  visage.  The  explanation  is  to  be  found,  I  take 


MOUNTAINEERING   IN   MINIATURE.  391 

it,  in  nothing  more  nor  less  than 'my  affability,  which 
I  can  neither  disguise  nor  palliate.  Why  else,  from 
a  street  full  of  people,  should  I  invariably  be  the  one 
picked  out  by  the  stranger  to  tell  him  his  way  ?  It 
is  not  because  I  look  as  if  I  knew ;  and  in  fact  I 
never  do  know ;  but  he  feels  convinced,  as  soon  as  he 
claps  eyes  on  me,  that,  whether  I  know  or  not,  at  all 
events,  he  will  get  an  affable  answer  from  me.  Or 
why  else,  in  third-class  carriages  and  elsewhere,  am 
I  the  one  to  whom  every  smoker  applies  for  a  light  ? 
It  is  not  because  my  light  is  better  than  other  peo- 
ple's, but  because  they  perceive  in  me  a  lack  of  gall 
to  make  their  oppression  bitter.  Yet,  but  for  this 
experience,  I  should  have  supposed  the  cast  and  pre- 
dominant expression  of  my  countenance  to  be  espe- 
cially grave  and  forbidding  ;  which  goes  to  prove 
that  the  world  knows  its  individuals  better  than  they 
know  themselves. 

Intellect  plays  but  a  subordinate  part  in  the  divi- 
nation of  character.  It  's  your  emotional,  impressi- 
ble person  who  finds  you  out  most  surely  and  soon-; 
hence  women  are  so  apt  to  pass  their  verdict  at  sight, 
and  (prejudice  apart)  are  so  seldom  entirely  mis- 
taken. They  cannot  say  categorically  what  you  are, 
—  the  faculty  of  formulating  impressions  being  no 
necessary  part  of  their  gift,  —  but  they  can  tell  what 
you  are  not,  and  description  by  negatives  is  often 


392  SAXON  STUDIES. 

.very  good  description.  Of  course,  they  are  easily 
led  to  alter,  or  at  least  ignore  their  first  judgment ; 
but  their  second  thought  is  never  worth  much.  It  is 
here  that  the  intellect  steps  in,  confirming  and  mar- 
shalling the  emotional  insight ;  and,  with  both  at  their 
best,  out  comes  Shakespeare. 

If  in  these  days  of  committees  we  could  have  a 
committee  on  geniuses,  —  those  whose  works  capti- 
vate all  ages,  —  I  think  the  most  of  them  would  turn 
out  soft-fibred  persons,  of  no  assertative  individu- 
ality. Egotists,  no  doubt,  but  with  a  foolish,  per- 
sonal —  not  lofty,  moral,  and  intellectual  —  egotism ; 
yielding,  sensitive  natures,  albeit  finely  balanced,  and 
with  an  innate  perception  of  truth  and  proportion, 
sufficient  to  prevent  their  being  forced  permanently 
out  of  shape.  Were  they  other  than  thus,  they 
would  be  always  tripping  up  their  own  inspiration 
(meaning  thereby  the  power  of  so  foregoing  one's 
self  as  to  reflect  directly  the  inner  truth  and  beauty 
of  moral  and  physical  creation).  Obstinate,  prog- 
nathous geniuses  must  have  a  hard  time  of  it :  inspi- 
ration is  not  easily  come  at  upon  any  terms ;  how, 
then,  when  breathless  and  sweating  from  a  tussle 
with  one's  own  personality  ? 


MOUNTAINEERING  IN   MINIATURE.  393 


III. 


"  BUT  you  have  lived  in  Russia  at  the  least  ? 
You  speak  the  language?"  No;  I  was  obliged  to 
confess  that  I  had  not.  The  little  agent  looked  hard 
at  me,  debating  within  himself  whether  he  should  ask 
me  outright  where  I  did  come  from  ;  he  ^decided 
against  it ;  and  applied  himself  to  staring  out  of  the 
window,  and  ever  and  anon  spitting  toward  any  part 
of  the  prospect  that  attracted  his  interest.  As  there 
was  a  strong  draught  setting  inward,  I  moved  far- 
ther up  the  seat.  Presently,  a  thought  of  his  per- 
sonal appearance  visited  him,  and  he  pulled  from  an 
inner  pocket  a  little  greasy  box,  having  a  tiny  mirror 
set  within  the  lid,  and  containing  four  inches  of 
comb.  With  these  .  appliances  the  Russian  went 
through  the  forms  of  the  toilet ;  replacing  his  box, 
when  he  had  finished,  with  a  pathetic  air  of  self- 
complacency,  such  as  I  have  observed  in  a  frouzy 
dog  who  has  just  scratched  his  ear  and  shaken  a  lit- 
tle dirt  from  his  coat.  This  human  being  had  an 
untrained,  unintellectual,  repulsive  aspect  enough ; 
but  he  looked  good-natured,  and  I  have  no  doubt  his 
odor  was  the  worst  part  of  him. 


394  SAXON   STUDIES. 

Sitting  beside  me  was  a  lean,  elderly  man,  of  pleas- 
ant and  respectable  appearance,  and  seemingly  well- 
educated  and  gentlemanlike.  He  had  a  guide-book, 
which  he  consulted  very  diligently,  and  was  continu- 
ally peering  out  of  the  windows  on  either  side  in 
hasty  search  for  the  objects  of  interest  which  the 
book  told  about.  He  referred  to  me  repeatedly,  with 
a  blandly  courteous  air,  for  information  regarding  the 
towns  and  scenes  through  which  we  passed  ;  and  by 
and  by  he  produced  the  stump  of  a.  cigar,  and  asked 
me  for  a  light,  which  I  gave  him.  At  Pirna  he  was 
painfully  divided  between  the  new  bridge  then  in 
course  of  building,  the  rock-mounted  castle  now  used 
as  an  insane  asylum,  and  the  perpendicular  brown 
cliffs  on  the  other  side  of  the  river,  —  the  beginning 
of  the  peculiar  formation  which  makes  the  Saxon 
Switzerland.  While  poking  his  head  out  of  the 
Russian's  window,  he  fell  into  talk  with  him  ;  and 
whether  they  turned  out  to  be  compatriots  or  not,  I 
cannot  tell ;  but  at  all  events  my  lean  friend  spoke 
my  frouzy  friend's  language  ;  they  sat  down  opposite 
one  another,  —  a  pendant  to  the  two  lovers  at  the 
other  side,  —  and  emptied  themselves  into  one  an- 
other's mouths,  so  to  speak,  during  the  rest  of  the 
journey.  The  guide-book  and  the  scenery  were  alike 
forgotten  —  such  is  the  superior  fascination  of  a  hu- 
man over  a  natural  interest.  They  more  cared  to 


MOUNTAINEERING  IN  MINIATURE.  395 

peep  into  the  dark  interiors  of  each  other's  minds 
than  gaze  at  the  sunlit  trees,  and  river,  and  rocks, 
and  sky  outside.  What  is  this  mysterious,  irresist- 
ible magnet  in  all  men,  compelling  them  to  attend 
first  of  all  to  one  another  ?  Is  it  smitten  into  them 
from  the  infinite  creative  Magnet?  I  find  it  most 
generally  sensitive  in  men  of  small  cultivation,  and 
in  women,  who,  on  the  other  hand,  seldom  take  much 
genuine  interest  in  grand  natural  scenery.  The  con- 
versation of  my  two  friends,  so  far  as  I  could  make 
it  out,  related  mainly  to  cigarettes  and  matters 
thereto  related.  They  fraternized  completely ;  the 
Russian  worked  himself  into  paroxyms  of  genial 
excitement,  and  gesticulated  with  much  freedom. 
Shortly  Before  our  arrival  at  Krippen  he  took  out  a 
pocket-case  of  cigarettes,  and  shared  its  contents 
with  his  new  acquaintance ;  and  the  two  likewise  ex- 
changed names  and  addresses.  Every  man  searches 
for  something  of  himself  in  those  he  meets,  and  is 
hugely  tickled  if  he  discovers  it. 

The  remaining  occupant  of  our  compartment  was 
a  poor,  meagre  little  fellow,  pale  and  peaked,  with 
dirty  white  hands  and  imperfect  nails,  and  dingy- 
genteel  attire.  He  was  chilly,  though  the  day  was 
warm  and  generous,  and  kept  rubbing  his  pithless 
hands  together  in  the  vain  attempt  to  get  up  circula- 
tion. He  was  altogether  squalid  and  dyspeptic,  and 


396  SAXON   STUDIES, 

smoked  a  squalid  cigar;  and  said  nothing,  save  in 
answer  to  some  question  put  to  him  by  his  Russian 
neighbor.  Even  the  endearments  of  the  lovers 
availed  not  to  bring  lustre  to  his  pallid  eyes ;  and, 
when  his  cigar  went  out,  he  put  it  in  his  pocket  with- 
out asking  for  a  light.  Some  unwholesome  city 
clerkship  was  his,  I  suppose,  in  a  street  where  the 
sun  never  shone,  and  the  drainage  was  bad. 

The  fortress  of  Koenigstein  reeled  dizzily  above 
us,  perched  indefinite  hundreds  of  feet  in  air,  on  its 
breakneck  precipice,  shelving  toward  the  base  and 
shawled  in  verdure.  But  the  first  sight  of  Lillien- 
stein,  as  we  sweep  around  the  curve,  is  perhaps  more 
impressive.  The  rock,  like  most  in  this  region,  is 
of  an  irregular,  oval  shape,  its  wooded  base  sloping 
conically  upward  to  within  two  hundred  feet  or  so  of 
the  top ;  at  which  point  the  rock  itself  appears,  hurt- 
ling straight  aloft  with  black-naked  crags.  Seen 
from  the  river-level,  its  altitude  is  increased  by  the 
height  of  the  bank  —  at  least  one  hundred  feet 
more  ;  and,  presenting  itself  end-on,  it  bears  a  strik- 
ing resemblance  to  the  dismantled  hull  of  some  Ti- 
tanic frigate,  wrecked  on  the  tall  summit  of  a  hill. 
The  gloomy,  weather-beaten  bows  rise  in  slow  gran- 
deur against  the  sky ;  there  are  the  shattered  bul- 
warks ;  bowsprits  and  masts  are  gone.  Ages  have 
passed  since  the  giant  vessel  was  stranded  there ;  and 


MOUNTAINEERING   EN   MINIATURE.  397 

the  prehistoric  ocean  which  hurled  it  to  its  place  has 
rolled  into  oblivion.  But  still  looms  the  barren  hulk 
over  that  old  ocean-bed,  now  green  with  trees  and 
crops,  dotted  with  tiny  villages  and  alive  with  pigmy 
men.  What  mighty  captain  commanded  her  on  her 
last  voyage  ?  whose  hand  swayed  her  tiller  and 
hauled  her  ropes  ?  what  enormous  exploits  are  re- 
corded in  her  log-book  ?  But  for  some  foolish  his- 
toric scruples,  I  should  christen  her  the  Ark,  manned 
by  Noah  and  his  sons,  and  freighted,  long  ago,  with 
the  hopes  of  humanity.  On  second  thoughts,  how- 
ever, that  could  not  be,  for  if  there  is  any  truth  in 
measurements,  Lillienstein  might  have  swung  the 
Ark  from  her  stern-davits,  and  never  felt  the  dif- 
ference. 


398  SAXON   STUDIES. 


IV. 


SOME  of  these  canal-boats,  however,  would  have 
made  her  stagger ;  it  seems  impossible  that  anything 
so  ponderous  should  float ;  looking  down  at  them  from 
above,  they  appear  to  be  of  about  the  tonnage  of 
an  ordinary  New  York  street.  Their  masts  are  in  pro- 
portion ;  but  their  sails  (which  they  ostentatiously 
spread  'to  the  lightest  breath  of  air)  are  exasper- 
atingly  insufficient,  and  help  them  along  about  as 
much  as  its  wings  do  a  penguin.  Nevertheless,  fleets 
of  them  are  continually  passing  up  and  down,  and 
seem  to  get  to  their  destination  ultimately.  Horses 
are  harnessed  to  the  mast,  and  tug  away  along  the 
rounded  stone  levees,  the  long  rope  brushing  the  wil- 
lows and  bushes  which  grow  beside  the  banks.  One 
mariner  dreams  over  the  tiller ;  another,  occasionally 
slumbers  on  the  bows,  upward  of  a  hundred  yards 
away.  Such  leisurely  voyaging  can  hardly  be  sup- 
posed to  keep  pace  with  the  fleet  foot  of  Time ; 
and  traditions  linger  hereabouts  of  boats  that  have 
left  Dresden  early  in  the  spring,  and,  losing  four 
months  on  the  passage,  have  only  arrived  at  Bo- 


MOUNTAINEERING  IN  MINIATURE.  399 

denbach  by  the  end  of  the  previous  autumn !     Can 
this  be  true? 

We  arrived  at  Krippen  just  as  a  soft  gray  cloud 
was  poising  itself  above  the  valley,  and  sending  down 
a  misty  message  of  rain-drops.  The  sun,  however, 
peeped  beneath,  and  translated  it  into  a  rainbow.  I 
hastened  down  the  steps  to  the  ferry-boat,  —  a  flat- 
bottomed  skiff  about  twenty  feet  long,  —  and  sat 
down  there  along  with  a  dozen  other  passengers. 
Charon  took  his  pole  (oars  are  unknown  in  this 
kind  of  craft)  and  poked  us  across  ;  the  boat,  which 
was  loaded  down  to  the  gunwale,  rocking  alarm- 
ingly, and  the  people  ejaculating  and  protesting.  At 
landing,  we  were  beswarmed  by  porters,  but  I  knew 
the  coast,  and,  escaping  from  them,  took  my  way 
along  the  pretty,  winding  path  toward  the  old  Bade- 
haus,  which  reposes  at  the  upper  end  of  the  desul- 
tory village  of  Schandau.  Schandau  proper,  indeed, 
is  comprised  in  the  little  garden-patch  of  red-roofed 
houses  huddled  in  the  mouth  of  the  valley  where 
it  opens  on  the  river;  but  its  "Bad"  reputation 
has  generated  a  long  progeny  of  stuccoed  villas, 
standing  in  a  row  beneath  the  opposite  sides  of  the 
gradually  narrowing  canon.  The  pine-clad  hill-sides 
rear  up  within  arm's  reach  of  their  back  windows, 
and  as  steep  as  their  roofs.  For  about  half  a  mile 
up,  the  valley  averages  scarcely  a  hundred  yards  in 


400  SAXON   STUDIES. 

breadth,  while  its  sides  are  at  least  as  high  as  that, 
and  look  much  higher.  Down  the  centre  flows  a 
brook,  dammed  once  or  twice  to  turn  saw-mills,  and 
bordered  with  strips  of  grassy  meadow.  The  main 
road,  unnecessarily  tortured  with  round  cobble-stones, 
and  miserable  in  a  width  'of  some  ten  feet,  crawls 
along  beneath  the  house-row  on  the  northern  side ; 
but  the  southern  is  the  aristocratic  quarter :  the 
houses  are  villas,  and  have  balconies  and  awnings, 
overlooking  a  smooth  gravel  path  densely  shaded  with 
trees  —  the  fashionable  morning-  and  evening  prom- 
enade, untrodden  by  hoof  of  horse,  and  familiar  to 
the  wheels  of  children's  perambulators  only.  Very 
charming  is  all  this;  and,  after  the  clatter,  glare, 
and  poison  of  the  city,  unspeakably  soothing  and 
grateful. 

As  I  walked  along,  fragments  of  the  rainbow 
shower  occasionally  found  their  way  to  me  through 
the  leafy  roof  overhead,  while  children  toddled  across 
my  path,  escaping  from  white-aproned  nurses ;  and 
villa-people  —  girls  in  coquettish  white  hats  and  gen- 
tlemen indolent  with  cigars  —  stared  at  me  from 
the  vantage-ground  of  their  shaded  windows.  At 
the  garden-restaurant  were  beer-drinkers,  merry  in 
the  summer-houses,  and  great  running  to  and  fro 
of  Kellner  and  Kellnerinnen.  The  dust  was  laid, 
the  trees  were  painted  a  livelier  green,  the  grass 


MOUNTAINEERING   IN    MINIATURE.  401 

and  flowers  held  themselves  straighter  and  taller. 
The  air  lay  cool  and  still  on  the  sweet -earth,  or 
moved  faintly  under  the  influence  of  a  doubtful 
breeze.  The  brook  gurgled  unseen,  and  the  noise 
of  the  saw-mill,  a  moderate  distance  off,  sounded 
like  the  busy  hum  of  some  gigantic  grasshopper. 

Where  the  Badehaus  stands,  the  hill-ridges  verge 
toward  each  other,  till  a  stone  could  be  thrown 
from  one  summit  to  the  other.  In  the  square  court 
on  which  the  hotel  faces,  the  aristocratic  pathway 
finds  its  end,  and  thenceforward  the  road,  relieved 
of  its  cobbles  and  otherwise  improved,  takes  up  the 
tale  alone.  The  brook  washes  the  Badehaus  wall, 
and  in  the  earlier  part  of  its  course  cleaves  to  the 
southern  side  of  the  narrow  gorge.  The  Badehaus 
places  itself  transversely  across  the  valley,  looking 
down  villageward,  and  giving  the  brook  and  the 
road  scarcely  room  to  turn  its  northern  wing.  Its 
opposite  end,  meanwhile,  thrusts  right  into  the  hill- 
side, and  even  digs  a  cellar  out  of  it  to  cool  its 
provisions  in.  The  front  court,  when  I  entered  it, 
was  noisy  with  multitudinous  children,  and  the  daily 
brass  band  was  on  the  point  of  striking  up  in  the 
open  pagoda.  The  audience  were  preparing  their 
minds  for  the  entertainment  with  plentiful  meat 
and  drink,  and  the  three  Kellner  employed  by  Herr 
Boettcher  had,  as  usual,  three  times  too  much  to 

26 


402  SAXON   STUDIES. 

do.  Herr  Boettcher  (who  looks  like  a  mild  Yankee 
until  he  opens  his  mouth)  and  his  pale-haired  help- 
mate received  me  with  many  smiles,  and  ushered 
me  into  a  small,  scantily  furnished  chamber  over- 
looking the  brook  and  the  road,  and  likewise  com- 
manding a  view  of  a  small  villa  crowded  close  against 
the  hill-side  beyond. 


MOUNTAINEERING  IN   MINIATURE.  403 


V. 


I  OEDEBED  supper,  and  then  sat  down  at  my  win- 
dow. The  brook,  which  flowed  directly  beneath  it, 
was  somewhat  cloudy  of  current,  and  disfigured  as 
to  its  bed  by  indistinct  glimpses  of  broken  crock- 
ery and  bottles  scattered  there.  A  short  distance 
down  it  was  crossed  by  a  bridge  communicating  with 
the  Badehaus  court.  Some  slender-stemmed  young 
trees  were  trying  to  make  themselves  useful  along 
the  road-side ;  and  there,  likewise,  were  ranged  three 
rectangular  piles  of  stone,  awaiting  the  hammer  of 
the  stone-breaker ;  and  a  wedge-shaped  mud-heap, 
hard  and  solid  now,  but  telling  of  wet  days  and 
dirty  walking  in  times  gone  by.  A  weather-beaten 
picket-fence,  interlarded  at  intervals  with  white- 
washed stone  posts,  inclosed  a  garden,  devoted 
partly  to  cabbages  and  potatoes,  and  partly  to  apple- 
trees.  At  one  end  of  this  inclosure  stood  the  villa, 
at  the  other  a  large  tree  with  a  swing  attached  to 
it ;  several  small  people  were  making  free  with  this 
plaything,  subject  to  an  occasional  reproving  female 
voice  from  the  direction  of  the  house,  and  the  fitful 


404  SAXON  STUDIES. 

barking  of  a  self-important  little  cur.  I  could  also 
-see  the  lower  half  of  a  white  skirt,  accompanied  by 
a  pair  of  black  broadcloth  legs,  moving  up  and 
down  beneath  the  low-extending  branches  of  the  ap- 
ple-trees. 

The  villa,  whose  red-tiled  roof  was  pleasantly  re- 
lieved against  a  dark-green  background  of  pines, 
was  provided  with  an  astonishing  number  of  win- 
dows ;  I  counted  no  fewer  than  fifteen,  besides  a 
door,  in  the  hither  end  of  it  alone.  Over  the  front 
door  was  a  balcony,  thickly  draped  with  woodbine  ; 
and  here  sat  two  ladies  in  blue  dresses,  dividing 
their  time  between  the  feminine  diversions  of  sew- 
ing, reading,  gossiping,  and  watching  the  passers-by. 
Small  or  large  parties  were  continually  strolling  up 
the  road  toward  the  Schuetzenhaus ;  the  women 
mostly  attired  in  white,  with  white  hats,  and  white 
or  buff  parasols  ;  and  all  chatting  and  laughing  with 
great  volubility  and  good-humor.  One  pretty  girl, 
walking  a  little  in  the  rear  of  her  companions,  hap- 
pened to  glance  up  at  my  window  and  catch  my 
eye,  and  all  at  once  it  became  necessary  for  her  to 
cross  the  road,  which  .being  rather  dirty,  she  was 
compelled  to  lift  her  crisp  skirts  an  inch  or  two 
above  a  shapely  pair  of  little  boots.  What  happy 
land  first  received  the  imprint  of  those  small  feet  ? 
Could  it  have  been  Saxony  ?  They  soon  walked 


MOUNTAINEERING   IN   MINIATURE.  405 

beyond  my  field  of  vision,  which  was  limited  by  the 
sash.  Here,  however,  came  into  play  a  species  of 
ocular  illusion,  made  possible  in  Germany  by  the 
habit  windows  have  of  opening  inward  on  hinges. 
The  upper  stretch  of  road  to  its  curve  round  the 
bold  spur  of  the  hill,  a  bit  of  dilapidated  bridge, 
and  one  or  two  new  villas  half  clad  in  trees  —  all 
this  pretty  picture  was  mirrored  and  framed  in  the 
pane  of  glass  at  my  left  hand.  A  few  moments, 
therefore,  after  the  owner  of  the  boots  had  vanished 
from  actual  sight,  she  stepped  daintily  into  this  phan- 
tom, world,  and  proceeded  on  her  way  as  demurely 
as  though  no  such  astonishing  phenomenon  had  oc- 
curred. She  was,  to  be  sure,  unaware  of  it ;  and 
we  all  live  in  blind  serenity  amid  marvels  as  strange. 
Perhaps,  when  our  time  comes,  we  shall  take  our 
first  walk  beyond  the  grave  with  no  less  unconscious 
self-possession  than  attended  the  march  of  those  little 
boots  across  my  window-pane. 

As  the  afternoon  wore  on,  wagons  and  droschkeys 
full  of  returning  excursionists  began  to  lumber  by, 
with  much  cracking  of  whips,  singing,  and  jollity. 
Many  of  the  men  wore  monstrous  hats  roughly 
plaited  of  white  reeds,  numbers  of  which  were  on 
sale  in  the  village  for  a  groschen  or  so  each,  being 
meant  to  last  only  a  day.  They  were  bound  with 
bands  of  scarlet  ribbon,  and  lent  their  wearers  a 


406  SAXON   STUDIES. 

sort  of  tropical  aspect.  Every  vehicle  was  over- 
crowded, and  everybody  was  in  high  spirits  except 
the  horses,  who,  however,  were  well  whipped  to  make 
up  for  it.  Meanwhile,  the  band  in  the  pagoda  round 
the  corner  had  long  been  in  full  blast,  and  odds  and: 
ends  of  melody  came ,  floating  past  my  window  ;  in 
the  pauses  of  the  music  I  could  hear  two  babies 
bemoaning  themselves  "in  an  adjoining  room.  A 
small  child,  with  red  face  and  white  hair,  made  it- 
self disagreeable  by  walking  nonchalantly  backward 
and  forward  over  an  impromptu  plank  bridge  with- 
out railings,  escaping  accident  so  tantalizingly  that 
I  would  almost  rather  have  seen  it  tumble  in  once 
for  all  and  done  with  it.  At  last  when  the  miracle 
had  become  threadbare,  the  bath-girl  appeared  and 
took  the  infant  Blondin  away ;  and  at  the  same 
moment  a  waiter  knocked  at  my  door  and  told  me 
supper  was  ready. 


MOUNTAINEERING  IN   MINIATURE.  407 


VI. 


SUPPER  was  set  out  on  a  little  table  under  the 
trees  in  the  front  court.  The  musicians  had  de- 
parted, leaving  a  skeleton  growth  of  chairs  and  mu- 
sic-rests in  the  pagoda ;  and  most  of  the  late  audi- 
ence had  assembled  at  the  long  dining-tables  in  the 
Speisesaal,  where  I  could  see  them  through  the  open 
windows  paying  vigorous  attention  to  the  meal. 

Several  young  ladies,  however,  under  the  leader- 
ship of  a  plump,  brisk  little  personage,  whom  I  can- 
not better  describe  than  by  calling  her  a  snub-nosed 
Jewess,  had  got  up  a  game  of  croquet,  which  they 
played  with  much  coquettish  ostentation,  but  in  other 
respects  ill.  They  were  in  pronounced  evening  cos- 
tume, and  my  waiter  —  a  small  fat  boy  smuggled 
into  a  man's  swallow-tail  —  said  there  was  going  to 
be  a  ball.  The  Tanzsaal  faced  me  on  the  other  side 
of  the  court,  being  connected  at  right  angles  with 
the  hotel,  corner  to  corner.  It  was  a  white,  stuc- 
coed building,  about  on  an  architectural  par  with  a 
deal  candle-box.  A  double  flight  of  steps  mounted 
to  the  door,  over  which  was  inscribed,  in  shaky  let- 


408  SAXON   STUDIES. 

tering,  some  lines  of  doggerel,  composed  by  Herr 
Boettcher  himself,  in  praise  of  his  medicinal  spring. 
The  hall  inside  may  have  been  sixty  feet  in  length, 
with  a  raised  platform  at  one  end  for  the  accommoda- 
tion of  the  musicians. 

It  was  lighted  by  two  candelabra ;  but  these 
eventually  proving  inadequate,  a  secret  raid  was 
made  upon  the  kerosene  lamps  in  the  guests'  rooms, 
and  every  one  of  them  was  carried  off.  I  retired 
early  that  night,  and,  having  discovered  my  loss 
and  rung  the  bell,  an  attendant  did  finally  appear  in 
the  shape  of  the  bath-girl.  To  make  a  short  story 
of  it,  no  light  except  starlight  was  to  be  had.  It  is  a 
hardship  to  have  to  go  to  bed  in  Saxony  at  all ;  you 
know  not  from  hour  to  hour  whether  you  are  too 
hot  or  too  cold,  but  are  convinced  before  morning  that 
you  are  three  or  four  feet  too  long.  But  the  Bade- 
haus  beds  are  a  caricature  rather  than  a  fair  example 
of  Saxon  beds ;  and  to  go  to  bed  not  only  in  Saxony 
but  in  the  Badehaus,  and  not  only  in  the  Badehaus 
but  in  the  dark,  was  for  me  a  memorable  exploit. 
I  have  reason  to  believe,  however,  that  three  fourths 
of  the  hotel  guests  had  to  do  the  same  thing ;  for  my 
wakefulness,  up  to  three  o'clock  in  the  morning,  was 
partly  due  to  the  noisy  demands  and  expostulations 
wherewith  they  made  known  and  emphasized  their 
dissatisfaction. 


MOUNTAINEERING  IN   MINIATURE.  409 

But  I  am  anticipating.  By  the  time  I  had  finished 
supper  it  was  growing  dusk,  and  the  dancers  were 
arriving  in  numbers.  The  dresses  were  mostly  white 
and  gauzy,  though  here  and  there  were  glimpses  of 
pink  and  blue  satins,  and  one  young  woman  divided 
herself  equally  between  red  and  green.  My  pretty 
vision  with  the  shapely  feet  was  not  among  them. 
As  evening  came  on  the  hall  filled,  and  I  could  see 
the  heads  of  the  company  moving  to  and  fro  within, 
and.  some  were  already  stationary  at  the  windows. 
Meanwhile  the  whole  domestic  brigade  appertaining 
to  the  hotel,  including  Herr  Boettcher  himself,  were 
busied  in  carrying  chairs  from  the  court-yard  to  the 
hall,  to  be  used  in  the  cotillon.  The  least  active 
agents  in  this  job  were  the  two  head- waiters  ;  the 
most  strenuous  and  hard-working  were  the  bath-girl 
and  the  chamber-maid.  Finally,  the  only  chairs  left 
were  my  own  and  one  occupied  by  a  huge,  fat  Rus- 
sian at  a  table  not  far  from  mine ;  and  from  these 
the  united  blandishments  of  the  entire  Boettcher 
establishment  availed  not  to  stir  either  of  us. 

Darkness  fell  upon  the  valley  ;  the  stars  came  out 
above  the  lofty  brow  of  the  impending  hill-side  ;  the 
trees  stood  black  and  motionless  in  the  still  air ;  all 
light,  life,  and  sound  were  concentrated  behind  the 
glowing  windows  of  the  Tanzsaal.  The  musicians 
had  struck  up  amain,  and  the  heads  were  now  mov- 


410  SAXON  STUDIES. 

ing  in  couples,  bobbing,  swooping,  and  whirling,  in 
harmony  with  the  rhythm  of  the  tune.  Now  and 
then  an  exhausted  pair  would  reel  to  a  window, 
where  the  lady  would  fan  herself  and  pant,  and  the 
gentleman  (in  three  cases  out  of  five  an  officer) 
would  wipe  his  forehead  with  his  handkerchief  and 
pass  his  forefinger  round  inside  the  upright  collar  of 
his  military  jacket.  Then  both  would  gaze  out  on 
the  darkness,  and,  seeing  nothing,  would  turn  to  each 
other  and  launch  themselves  into  the  dance  once 
more. k  Between  the  pauses  I  could  distinguish  Herr 
Boettcher's  brown,  curly  pate  hastening  busily  back- 
ward and  forward,  and  began  to  remark  an  increase 
of  illumination  in  the  hall,  but  was,  of  course,  with- 
out suspicion  of  the  cost  to  myself  at  which  it  was 
being  obtained. 

The  huge  Russian  and  I  were  the  only  voluntary 
non-combatants,  for  the  half-score  of  forlorn  creatures 
(among  them  the  chamber-maid  and  the  bath-girl) 
who  had  climbed  on  the  railing  of  the  steps,  and 
were  stretching  their  necks  to  see  what  they  could 
see,  would  gladly  have  taken  part  if  it  had  been  per- 
mitted them.  It  was  now  too  dark  for  me  to  do 
more  than  roughly  guess  at  the  outline  of  my  stout 
neighbor,  but  I  could  hear  him  occasionally  take  a 
gulp  from  his  beer-glass,  sigh  heavily,  and  anon  in- 
hale a  whiff  of  cigarette  smoke.  I  also  had  drunk  a 


MOUNTAINEERING  IN   MINIATURE.  411 

glass  of  beer ;  but  it  now  occurred  to  me  to  try  the 
possibility  of  getting  something  else.  I  called  the 
waiter  and  bade  him  bring  me  a  lemon,  some  sugar, 
some  hot  water,  and  one  or  two  other  things,  from 
which  I  presently  concocted  a  mixture  unknown  to 
Saxon  palates,  but  which  proved  none  the  less  grate- 
ful on  that  account  to  my  own.  The  cordial  aroma 
must,  I  think,  have  been  wafted  by  some  friendly 
breeze  to  the  Russian's  nostrils,  for  after  an  interval 
he,  too,  summoned  the  waiter,  and  categorically 
repeated  my  own  order. 

Meanwhile  the  music  surged  and  beat,  and  the  ball 
went  seething  on.  "  It  is  much  pleasanter,  as  well 
as  wiser,"  thought  I,  "to  sit  here  quiet  and  cool,  be- 
neath the  stars,  with  a  good  cigar  and  a  fragrant 
glass  of  punch  for  company,  than  to  dance  myself  hot 
and  tired  in  yonder  close,  glaring  room."  Then, 
somehow  or  other,  the  recollection  of  that  pretty 
figure  with  the  white  parasol  and  the  small  arched 
feet,  which  had  marched  so  daintily  across  my 
window-pane  that  afternoon,  came  into  my  mind; 
and  I  was  glad  to  think  that  she  was  not  one  of  the 
red-faced,  promiscuous  throng.  She  belonged  to  a 
higher  caste  than  any  there,  or,  at  all  events,  there 
was  in  her  an  innate  nicety  and  refinement  which 
would  suffice  to  keep  her  from  mixing  in  such  an  as- 
semblage. The  more  I  reflected  upon  the  matter, 


412  SAXON    STUDIES. 

the  less  could  I  believe  that  she  was  a  Saxon.  I  had 
contracted,  it  may  be,  a  prejudice  against  the  Saxons, 
and  was  slow  to  give  them  credit  for  exceptional 
elegance  of  form  or  bearing.  That  graceful  tournure 
—  that  high-bred  manner  —  no,  no  !  Why  might 
she  not  be  a  Spaniard  —  nay,  why  not  even  an 
American?  And  here  I  entered  upon  the  latter 
half  of  my  glass  of  punch. 

The  waiter  returned,  bearing  the  Russian's  hot 
water  and  so  forth  on  a  tray,  and  having  set  them 
before  him,  hastened  off  to  his  post  at  the  ballroom 
door.  The  soft  glock-glock  of  liquids,  and  the  sub- 
dued tinkle  of  tumbler  and  spoon,  now  became 
audible  from  the  womb  of  night,  accompanied  by 
occasional  laboring  sighs  and  tentative  smackings  of 
the  lips,  —  tokens  that  my  heavy  neighbor  was  mak- 
ing what,  for  him,  was  probably  a  novel  experiment. 
I  became  gradually  convinced,  moreover,  that  it  was 
not  altogether  a  successful  one ;  and  I  was  more 
pleased  than  surprised  when  I  heard  him,  after  a 
little  hesitation,  push  back  his  chair  and  advance 
upon  me  out  of  the  darkness,  entreating  me,  in  the 
gentlest  tone  imaginable,  to  favor  him  with  a  light 
for  his  cigarette. 

This  having  been  done,  he  stood  silent  a  moment, 
and  then  observed,  engagingly,  that  he  had  been  in- 
formed the  gentleman  was  an  American  ;  that  the 


MOUNTAINEERING   IN   MINIATURE.  413 

relations  of  Russia  and  America  had  always  been 
cordial ;  that  the  fame  of  the  American  punch  was 
known  to  him,  but  not,  alas  !  the  exact  method  of 
preparing  it ;  that  — 

I  here  ventured  to  interrupt  him,  begging  that  he 
would  bring  his  glass  and  his  chair  to  my  table,  and 
suffer  me  to  improve  the  opportunity,  so  kindly  af- 
forded, of  introducing  him  to  a  national  institution, 
peculiarly  adapted  to  increase  the  entente  cordiale  to 
which  he  had  so  pleasantly  alluded.  He  accepted 
my  invitation  as  frankly  as  it  was  given,  and  in  five 
minutes  we  were  hobnobbing  in  the  friendliest  man- 
ner in  the  world.  Like  all  educated  Russians,  he 
had  a  fair  understanding  of  English,  and  I  was  an- 
ticipating an  evening  of  social  enjoyment,  when  the 
following  incident  occurred  :  — 

The  first  part  of  the  ball  was  over,  and  an  inter- 
mission of  ten  minutes  was  announced  before  the 
beginning  of  the  cotillon.  The  hall  doors  were 
thrown  open,  and  among  the  couples  that  came  out 
upon  the  steps  was  one  which  attracted  my  atten- 
tion. The  lady,  who  was  dressed  in  white,  after  a 
moment  sent  back  her  partner  for  a  shawl,  and,  dur- 
ing his  absence,  she  stood  in  such  a  position  that  the 
light  from  within  fell  directly  upon  her  face.  The 
man  —  he  was  not  an  officer  —  returned  with  the 
shawl,  and  folded  it  around  her  pretty  shoulders 


414  SAXON   STUDIES. 

with  an  air  that  was  not  to  be  mistaken.  They  de- 
scended the  steps  arm-in-arm,  and  came  forward, 
groping  their  way  and  laughing,  in  our  direction. 
They  stumbled  upon  a  table  only  three  or  four  yards 
from  ours,  and  sat  down  to  it.  After  a  short  con- 
fabulation, the  man  called  out  "  Karl ! "  and  the 
waiter  came. 

"  Karl,  two  glasses  of  beer ;  but  quick ! " 

"  And  a  portion  of  raw  ham  thereto,  Karl,"  said 
the  lady,  in  the  unmistakable  Saxon  accent ;  "  I  am 
so  frightfully  hungry  !  " 

"  Two  glass  beer,  one  portion  -ham,"  recited  Karl, 
and  hurried  off. 

The  man  pulled  a  cigar  from  his  pocket  and  lit  it 
with  a  match.  I  had  recognized  him  before  —  he 
kept  a  small  cigar-shop  on  See-Strasse,  in  Dresden. 
He  threw  the  lighted  match  on  the  ground,  and  it 
burnt  there  until  the  lady  put  out  a  small,  arched 
foot,  neatly  booted,  and  daintily  extinguished  it. 
She  was  a  pretty  girl  for  a  Saxon,  especially  a  Saxon 
in  her  humble  rank  of  life. 

"  Herr  Kombustikoff,"  said  I  to  my  Russian  friend, 
"  I  must  leave  you.  I  am  very  sorry  —  but  I  have 
received  a  great  shock.  Good-night !  "  and  I  was 
gone  before  Karl  returned  with  the  raw  ham  and  the 
beer,  and  thus  it  happened  that  I  went  to  bed  so 
early  that  night.  I  rested  ill;  but  it  would  have 


MOUNTAINEERING  IN   MINIATURE.  415 

fared  yet  worse  with  me  had  I  known  then,  what 
I  discovered  next  morning,  that  my  too-courteous 
Russian  had  gone  off  after  having  paid  for  my  punch 
as  well  as  for  his  own !  Did  he  imagine  that  I  meant 
to  barter  my  instruction  for  the  price  of  the  bever- 
age to  which  it  related  ?  May  this  page  meet  his 
eye,  and  discover  to  him,  at  last,  the  true  cause  of 
my  unceremonious  behavior. 


416  SAXON   STUDIES. 


VII. 


BY  daylight  I  was  dimly  awake,  and  dreamily 
aware  of  the  singing  of  a  bird  outside  my  window. 
Of  all  the  bird-songs  that  ever  I  heard,  this  was  the 
briskest,  most  high-strung,  most  dandified ;  giving  my 
drowsy  head  the  fancy  that  some  elfin  exquisite  was 
busy  arranging  his  cravat,  parting  his  hair,  and  point- 
ing the  ends  of  his  moustache  before  a  dew-drop  mir- 
ror ;  uttering  the  while  a  brilliant  series  of  fairy  wit- 
ticisms upon  the  follies  of  society.  I  fell  asleep  again, 
and  dreamed  incoherently,  but  not  unpleasantly,  de- 
spite my  cramped  position  ;  but  awoke  soon  after  to 
see  the  pure  sunshine  lighting  up  the  fir-trees  on  the 
opposite  hill-side,  and  to  hear  the  inner  voice  of  the 
brook  babbling  to  itself  beneath  the  window.  Even 
then  I  should  not  have  got  up  had  not  a  steady  tide 
of  weeping  set  in  from  the  babies  in  the  adjoining 
room. 

No  matter  how  early  I  rise  in  Saxony,  I  never  fail 
to  find  people  up  before  me.  It  was  now  but  little 
after  five  o'clock,  and  two  elderly  hypochondriacs 
were  dipping  up  the  iron-water  from  the  spring  in  the 


MOUNTAINEERING    IN    MINIATURE.  417 

front  court,  while  a  pallid  young  lady,  blanched,  I 
suppose,  from  indulgence  in  city  dissipations,  was 
pacing  slowly  up  and  down  the  walk,  sipping  fresh 
milk  out  of  a  tall  tumbler.  For  my  own  part,  being 
in  search  of  an  appetite,  I  started  up  the  steep,  zig- 
zag hill-path,  and  steered  a  breathless  course  heaven- 
ward, through  dewy  heather  and  blueberry-bushes, 
and  over  difficult  rocks  and  grassy  knolls.  The  world 
enlarged  around  me  as  I  climbed,  though  the  feath- 
ery arc  of  white  cloud  which  spanned  the  blue  over- 
head grew  no  nearer  for  all  my  pains.  At  length  I 
attained  a  small,  semicircular  stone  erection,  which, 
from  below,  had  seemed  to  crown  the  hill,  but  which 
now  turned  out  to  be  somewhat  below  the  highest 
point.  It  commanded,  nevertheless,  a  comprehensive 
view  of  the  Schandau  Valley,  still  hazy  with  the 
remnants  of  last  night's  mist.  The  pine-trees  on  the 
ridge  of  the  hill  opposite  seemed  almost  within  reach 
of  my  outstretched  arm.  Below,  some  four  or  five 
hundred  feet,  appeared  the  flattened  roof  of  the 
Badehaus  ;  and  there  were  the  hypochondriacs,  pig- 
mies now,  still  lingering  over  the  iron  spring ;  and  a 
young  lady  a  couple  of  inches  high  pacing  slowly  to 
and  fro,  and  occasionally  sipping  milk  from  an  infini- 
tesimal tumbler.  There,  too,  comes  a  microscopic 
Karl,  and  begins  to  set  a  breakfast-table,  with  tiny 
white  cloth,  and  glistening  plates  no  bigger  than 


418  SAXON  STUDIES. 

heads  of  pins.  This  pebble  which  I  hold  in  my 
hand,  were'  I  to  cast  it  down,  would  utterly  over- 
whelm and  crush  out  the  entire  establishment  — 
Badehaus,  hypochondriacs,  Karl,  iron  spring,  young 
lady,  breakfast-table,  and  all.  Heavens  !  what  power 
for  wholesale  destruction  is  in  this  arm  of  mine ! 
Yet,  tremble  not,  poor  mites,  I  will  not  annihilate 
ye ;  moreover,  were  one  of  you  but  to  turn  his  eyes 
hitherward,  it  is  I  who  would  appear  insignificant, 
and  you  the  giants. 

Fresh  and  invigorating  was  the  atmosphere  at  this 
height,  polluted  by  no  human  exhalations,  but  seem- 
ing to  be  the  essence  of  last  night's  stars,  dissolved 
for  my  use- by  this  morning's  sunshine.  After  swal- 
lowing my  fill  of  it,  I  left  the  little  stone  semicircle, 
and  took  my  way  along  the  ridge  of  the  hill,  toward 
the  river.  Looking  downward,  there  were  the  red- 
tiled  roofs  of  the  villas  almost  below  my  feet ;  farther 
out,  the  brook,  flowing  on  hastily  between  its  green 
banks,  and  at  one  point  rushing  out  in  white  foam 
beneath  a  dark  archway  ;  beyond,  still  the  road,  with 
its  line  of  houses  of  older  and  quainter  growth,  seem- 
ing to  rest  their  aged  shoulders  against  the  perpen- 
dicular hill-wall  behind  them.  Long,  narrow  flights 
of  stone  steps  mounted  straight  upward  from  the 
kitchen-doors  of  flie  villas,  leading  to  heights  of  back- 
yard on  a  level  with  the  tops  of  their  chimneys. 


MOUNTAINEERING   IN  MINIATURE.  419 

There  was  one  villa,  high  up  on  the  opposite  hill- 
side, where  it  made  a  white  break  in  the  dense 
growth  of  firs,  which  was  romantic  with  battlemented 
turrets  and  mullioned  windows,  and  dignified  with  an 
elaborate  staircase  of  dressed  stone,  winding  through 
several  landings  to  the  porticoed  doorway.  Farther 
on,  surmounting  the  extreme  spur  of  the  ridge,  and 
abreast  of  the  village,  was  the  little  Schloss-Bastie 
Restauration,  with  its  flag  flying,  its  camera-obscura 
like  a  black  pill-box,  and  its  vine-covered  beer-gar- 
den, where  I  had  quaffed  many  a  refreshing  stoup 
after  a  dusty  tramp  from  Dresden,  chatting  the  while 
with  bright-eyed,  good-humored  little  Marie. 

Before  long,  I  found  myself  at  the  end  of  my  own 
ridge,  apparently  overhanging  the  red-roofed,  irreg- 
ular town,  and  sat  down  on  one  of  the  hospitable 
benches  established  there.  A  wooden  railing  afforded 
a  not  unnecessary  precaution  against  tumbling  over 
into  the  front  yard  of  the  little  white  villa  on  the 
road-side  below.  The  villa,  plain  enough  in  itself, 
was  surrounded  by  a  small  garden  full  of  roses  ;  and 
its  porch  was  heavily  overgrown  with  woodbine. 
Out  of  this  porch  presently  issued  a  woman  and  a 
little  girl,  and  walked  about  the  garden,  picking  the 
beautiful  flowers.  The  woman  was  simply  clad  in 
white,  and  had  a  green  bow  on  the  bosom  of  her 
dress  —  as  if  she  were  a  humanization  of  the  villa. 

X 

Her  hair,  however,  was  not  red,  but   black. 


420  SAXON   STUDIES. 

Beyond  the  town  flowed  the  river  Elbe,  and, 
winding  westward,  gleaming  white,  swept  round  the 
broad  base  of  Lillienstein,  five  miles  away.  The 
great  rock,  from  this  point  of  view,  resembled  an  old 
woman  sitting  closely  huddled  up  beside  the  river  in 
a  green  cloak,  her  gray  head  bowed  forward  on  her 
knees.  On  the  railroad  just  across  the  stream,  an 
engine  was  steaming  itself  out  of  breath  in  the  effort 
to  set  in  motion  an '  innumerable  train  of  freight- 
wagons.  Above  the  railroad  was  a  showy,  glisten- 
ing, bannered  edifice,  perched,  brand-new,  on  its  raw, 
green  terraces ;  above  this,  again,  a  yellow-stone 
quarry,  and,  higher  still,  the  pine-fringed  summit 
against  the  sky.  Ferry-skiffs,  gay  with  awnings,  and 
full  of  passengers  by  the  early  train  from  Dresden, 
were  being  poled  across  ;  the  landing-place,  however, 
was  shut  out  from  my  view  by  the  intervention  of 
the  line  of  hotels  which  is  drawn  up  so  officiously 
along  the  river  margin.  The  most  prominent  feat- 
ure in  my  immediate  neighborhood  was  the  church- 
steeple,  which  bulged  out  irregularly  like  an  insuffi- 
ciently-swaddled infant.  None  of  the  streets  in  the 
town  were  visible ;  but  the  green  tops  of  the  trees 
planted  along  them  rose  up  above  the  ruddy  roofs, 
seaming  them  into  uneven  quadrilaterals.  Meanwhile, 
from  the  chimneys  the  smoke  of  a  hundred  breakfasts 
began  to  rise,  reminding  me  that  my  own  was  still 


MOUNTAINEERING   IN   MINIATURE.  421 

uneaten.  I  returned  along  the  ridge  of  the  hill  to 
my  semicircular  bastion,  whence  descending,  as  it 
were,  through  the  very  tops  of  the  gloomy  fir-trees,  I 
sat  down  to  table,  warm  and  glowing,  with  an  appe- 
tite for  the  largest  of  beefsteaks.  The  hypochondriacs 
and  the  milk-drinking  lady  had  wandered  away : 
several  people,  singly  or  in  parties,  were  breaking 
their  fast  beneath  the  trees ;  excursionists  were 
strolling  past,  and  Sunday  was  getting  fairly  under 
way.  By  the  time  I  had  lit  my  morning  cigarette, 
the  yard  was  quite  alive,  and  those  who  had  parted 
latest  the  night  before  were  now  hypocritically  com- 
plimenting one  another  upon  the  freshness  of  their 
appearance.  After  a  cool  half  hour  I  resumed  my 
hat  and  staff,  and  leisurely  began  the  ascent  of  the 
Schiller-Hohe,  on  the  other  side  of  the  road. 


422  SAXON  STUDIES. 


VIII. 

IT  was  a  ten  minutes'  easy  climb.  The  well-built, 
easily-graded  path  went  zigzagging  upward  beneath 
the  tall,  dark  pines,  bordered  with  dewy  green  ferns, 
purple-tipped  heather,  huckleberry-bushes,  and  tufts 
of  narrow-leaved  grass.  At  the  turns  of  the  ascent 
were  benches,  either  constructed  from  a  slab  of  stone 
laid  across  two  uprights,  or  hewn  in  the  solid  rock 
whenever  it  jutted  out  conveniently.  Enterprising 
climbers  had  worn  short-cuts  straight  upward  from 
corner  to  corner  of  the  path,  tempting  to  look  at,  but 
as  short-cuts,  fallacious,  unless  men  were  made  on 
the  principle  of  a  balloon  ;  and,  on  reflection,  I  have 
come  to  the  conclusion  that  they  must  have  been 
created  by  people  on  the  downward  trip.  Saxons 
will  climb,  and  climb  to  good  heights  ;  but  it  is  in- 
dispensable that  the  incline  should  not  be  arduous. 
In  the  present  case,  the  gradual  slope  was  further 
modified  by  putting  in  three  or  four  stone  steps  at 
the  end  of  each  short  stretch  ;  and  if  all  should  prove 
insufficient,  there  were  always  the  benches  to  fall 
back  upon. 


MOUNTAINEERING  IN   MINIATURE.  423 

The  profound  stillness  which  prevailed  here  at  this 
hour  had  an  exquisite  charm.  Through  openings  be- 
tween the  trees  I  caught  lovely  green  glimpses  of  the 
valley  below.  I  met  no  one  until,  when  nearly  at 
the  top,  I  came  upon  two  peasant-girls,  each  with  her 
basket,  sitting  down  to  rest.  I  gave  them  "  Good- 
morning,"  and  one  of  them  responded  with  sober 
courtesy.  A  few  steps  farther  on  I  was  startled, 
emerging  from  such  a  depth  of  seclusion,  at  coming 
abruptly  in  sight  of  an  open,  commonplace  road, 
with  a  cart  rumbling  along  it ;  and  beyond,  broad 
fields  sown  with  potatoes  and  cabbages,  and  scat- 
tered over  with  half  a  dozen  women-cultivators.  Still 
keeping  to  the  path,  I  soon  came  to  the  Schiller- 
Hohe  itself. 

The  monument,  in  itself,  certainly  did  not  amount 
to  much  —  a  square  shaft  of  gray  stone,  on  a  ped- 
estal, the  whole  less  than  ten  feet  high.  On  the 
side  toward  the  valley  was  a  medallion  of  Schiller's 
head,  and  a  date  — 1859 ;  and  all  four  sides,  both  of 
shaft  and  pedestal,  were  crowded  with  the  names  of 
visitors,  and  the  dates  of  their  visits.  Round  about, 
at  a  respectful  distance,  were  placed  wooden  benches, 
apparently  for  the  purpose  of  facilitating  the  study 
of  so  remarkable  a  work  of  art.  Accordingly,  I  sat 
down  and  fixed  my  eyes  upon  it.  Three  small,  rag- 
ged boys,  dismayed  at  my  solemnity,  gave  up  their 


424  SAXON   STUDIES. 

irreverent  gambols  and  retreated  into  the  woods. 
Finding  myself  once  more  solitary,  I  filled  a  pipe 
with  sweet  "  Lone  Jack,"  and  smoked,  and  dutifully 
meditated  upon  the  poet,  who,  I  suppose,  composed 
some  one  of  his  poems  or  tragedies  on  this  spot. 

After  a  while,  I  heard  an  approaching  step, 
weighty  and  sedate ;  and  soon  appeared  a  stout, 
elderly  gentleman,  in  wide,  black  clothes,  who,  upon 
seeing  me,  paused  to  deliver  a  gravely  ceremonious 
bow,  being  under  the  impression,  probably,  that  I 
was  a  sort  of  deputy-tutelar  genius  of  the  grove, 
employed  during  the  poet's  absence.  I  returned 
his  salute  with  all  the  dignity  I  could  command 
He  advanced  toward  the  monument,  and  inspected, 
though  with  a  rather  embarrassed  and  mechanical 
air,  the  medallion  and  the  date.  It  was  easy  to  per- 
ceive that  he  was  a  morbidly  considerate  man,  and 
shrank  from  subjecting  the  affair  to  a  rigid  criticism 
while  even  the  deputy- tutelar  genius  was  looking  on. 
Moreover,  finding  nothing  to  admire,  and  being  alto- 
gether too  honorable  a  person  to  counterfeit  admira- 
tion, he  was  not  long  in  making  up  his  mind  that  his 
only  proper  course  was  to  retire.  This  he  accord- 
ingly did,  as  sedately  as  he  had  come,  by  no  means 
forgetting  to  deliver  me  a  second  ceremonious  bow 
(which  I  returned)  before  passing  out  of  sight. 

Hereupon  ensued  another  interval  of  silence  and 


MOUNTAINEERING   IN  MINIATURE.  425 

solitude.  I  finished  my  pipe  ;  and  so  soothing  was 
the  murmuring  of  the  pines  and  the  wild,  domestic  • 
twittering  of  the  birds,  that  I  think  I  should  have, 
yielded  to  the  temptation  of  compensating  my  bad 
night  with  a  nap,  had  not  my  drowsiness  been  scared 
away  by  the  sudden  advent  of  a  bevy  of  laughing, 
prattling,  skylarking  young  women,  upon  whom  the 
solemnity  of  my  demeanor  produced  not  the  slightest 
effect.  So,  finding  that  they  were  determined  to 
take  possession  of  the  place,  I  resigned  my  deputy- 
tutelarship  perforce,  and  retired  in  my  turn.  Fol- 
lowing a  downward  bending  track,  I  stumbled  upon 
a  small  cave,  partly  hollowed  out  of  the  natural  rock, 
but  owing  most  of  its  attractions,  such  as  they  were, 
to  masonry.  "  Schiller's  Grotte,"  it  was  called,  in 
black  letters  upon  a  white  ground.  Of  course,  Schil- 
ler may  have  sat  in  it;  there  is  a  pretty  outlook 
over  the  valley  from  a  point  near  at  hand,  and  the 
Grotte  is  ostentatiously  fitted  up  with  a  semicircular 
stone  seat,  which,  however,  can  hardly  date  back  to 
Schiller's  time.  Be  that  as  it  may,  the. place,  when 
I  visited  it,  was  peculiarly  unsavory,  and  nothing  less 
than  a  Noachian  deluge  would  have  kept  me  in  it  a 
moment.  I  rambled  on,  and  soon  came  to  another 
coign  of  vantage,  a  little  lower  down  than  the  first, 
but  overlooking  a  wider  prospect.  Wooden  benches 
were  provided  here  also,  and  a  sign-board,  mounted 


426  SAXON   STUDIES, 

on  a  pole,  informed  the  visitor  that  this  was  Frie- 
•  dens-Platz. 

The  Saxon  custom  of  sentimentalizing  over  all 
their  pretty  places,  and  branding  them  with  lacka- 
daisical titles,  is  not  altogether  agreeable  to  a  for- 
eigner. It  destroys  the  finest  aroma  of  natural 
beauty  to  have  it  coarsely  insisted  upon  and  crammed 
down  your  throat  by  some  vulgar  fellow  who  happens 
to  have  been  beforehand  with  you  in  discovering  it. 
Every  one,  it  seems  to  me,  ought  to  be  allowed  to 
believe,  if  it  suits  his  fancy  to  do  so,  that  whatever 
charm  he  finds  in  Nature  is  virginal  for  him  ;  that  it 
has  not  been  previously  breathed  upon,  handled,  cat- 
alogued and  labelled,  by  an  impure  rabble  of  spec- 
tacled and  professional  enthusiasm-mongers,  who 
never  can  rid  themselves  of  their  itch  for  besmearing 
everything  they  come  in  contact  with  with  the  slime 
of  their  own  offensive  personality.  Let  a  man  name 
his  house,  if  he  likes  ;  it  is  his  own,  and  should  sug- 
gest him,  and  the  name  helps  it  to  do  so.  But  what 
is  the  use  of  giving  to  eternal  mountains  and  ever-  • 
lasting  rivers  the  puny  patronymics  of  our  so-called 
great  men^  whose  pigmy  reputations  are  astonish- 
ingly long-lived  if  they  endure  five  hundred  years  ? 
I  suppose  the  mound'builders  of  America  had  their 
own  way  of  distinguishing  Mount  Washington  from 
other  mountains  ;  and  I  dare  believe  that  the  people 


MOUNTAINEERING   IN   MINIATURE.  427 

who  live  iii  America  ten  thousand  years  hence  will 
devise  another  way  still.  If  such  things  must  be  di- 
rectly named  at  all,  let  the  name  be  simply  descrip- 
tive, like  those  the  Indians  give.  There  is  much  talk 
nowadays,  about  the  wholesome  effects  of  a  sense 
of  humor  and  a  perception  of  the  ludicrous ;  and 
Englishmen,  Americans,  and  others  pride  themselves 
upon  the  possession  of  these  qualities.  But  Nature, 
I  imagine,  must  often  find  us  humorous  in  another 
sense  than  we  intend,  and  bears  our  tiny  imperti- 
nences with  a  smile  too  broad  for  us  to  see  it.  We 
are  all  for  being  concise,  and  have  made  circumlocu- 
tion a  bugbear.  The  truth  is,  that  our  conciseness, 
which  is  a  literal  and  not  a  real  conciseness,  leads 
to  the  worst  kind  of  circumlocution,  which  is  not 
real  circumlocution  at  all.  To  be  truly  concise  is, 
once  to  express  clearly  one  idea ;  and  what  idea, 
except  a  ludicrous  one,  would  an  undoctored  intelli- 
gence receive  from  the  expression  Mount  Washing- 
ton ?  So  far  from  being  concise,  it  involves  a  po- 
tential volume  of  explanation  before  our  undoctored 
intelligence  could  be  brought  to  see  the  point  of  it. 
But  the  Indian  name,  which  we  call  circumlocutory, 
is  truly  concise,  as  all  true  circumlocution  must  be. 
Circumlocution  is  primitive  and  majestic,  and  must 
lie  at  the  bottom  of  all  right  perception  of  truth. 
Such  discussions,  however,  are  not  particularly  suited 
to  a  Friedens-Platz. 


428  SAXON   STUDIES. 


IX. 


WHATEVER  other  people's  feeling  may  be,  there 
is  no  doubt  that  Saxons  like  a  pretty  place  all  the 
better  for  having  a  lackadaisical  name.  It  gives 
them  their  cue,  and  they  dispose  themselves  accord- 
ingly. I  had  not  more  than  got  through  the  above 
diatribe  when  a  Saxon  family  appeared  —  a  man  and 
wife,  child  of  four  years,  and  nurse.  They  looked 
at  the  prospect  with  complacency,  it  is  true  ;  but  the 
sign-board  was  their  primary  admiration.  "  Frie- 
dens-Platz  ! "  they  repeated  to  one  another,  in  a  con- 
gratulatory tone,  and  then  took  another  look  with 
new  eyes.  Friedens-Platz  —  yes,  yes  !  Observe, 
once  more,  the  peculiar  peacefulness  of  the  valley ; 
and  methinks  the  sky  is  calmer  and  the  breeze  gen- 
tler here  than  elsewhere.  Blessed  sign-board  !  —  to 
think  that  we  might  have  come  and  gone,  and  never 
known  wherein  the  charm  of  this  spot  consisted,  or 
whether  it  had  any  charm  at  all !  It  is  all  in  the 
sign-board  —  peace  be  to  it,  and  to  the  poetic  insight 
that  placed  it  there ! 

These  people   did   not  stay  very  long,  and  I  sat 


MOUNTAINEERING   IN   MINIATURE.  429 

them  out.  My  next  visitors  were  a  woman  and  two 
men  —  pleasant,  respectable  people,  and,  I  think, 
Swedes.  The  woman  was  not  only  very  good-nat- 
ured, but  incredibly  loquacious  and  voluble  ;  and  so 
agreeable  were  the  tones  and  inflections  of  her  voice 
that,  although  not  understanding  a  syllable  she  ut- 
tered, I  found  an  indescribable  charm  in  listening  to 
her.  The  effect  was  magnetic  and  soothing.  Here 
was  a  good  opportunity  for  studying  the  influence 
of  mere  speech  —  divorced  from  all  knowledge  of 
its  meaning  —  upon  the  ear  and  sentiments  of  the 
hearer.  Undoubtedly  it  has  great  significance  —  is 
at  least  as  important  to  language  as  the  material 
of  a  building  is  to  its  architectural  design.  It  was 
only  my  guess  that  this  language  was  Swedish  ;  it 
may  just  as  well  have  been  Hawaiian  or  Persian. 
Whatever  it  was,  it  tripped  along  at  a  great  pace,  in 
a  kind  of  short,  four-footed  canter ;  no  drawling  or 
dwelling  upon  syllables ;  little  sibilation,  but  plenty 
of  sh'ing,  tt'ing,  and  pp'ing.  While  the  woman  thus 
held  forth,  one  of  her  companions  sat  quietly  listen- 
ing, giving  occasional  vent  to  an  assenting  or  annota- 
tory  grunt ;  the  other  kept  walking  restlessly  to  and 
fro,  interpolating  a  sentence  here  and  there.  I  sat 
for  half  an  hour,  my  back  turned  upon  the  party,  ap- 
parently absorbed  in  the  view  —  really  so,  in  fact ; 
for  the  flow  of  babble  did  not  interfere  with  my  ap- 


430  SAXON  STUDIES. 

preciation  of  what  I  saw,  but  chimed  in  with  it. 
Very  likely,  on  the  other  hand,  it  was  I  who  inter- 
fered with  the  Swedes. 

Small  sounds  below  in  the  valley  were  distinctly 
audible  at  this  height.  The  first-fiddle  of  the  Bade- 
haus  band  was  tuning  his  instrument  in  the  front 
court ;  there  came  the  slow  jar  of  a  cart,  and  now 
the  driver  cleared  his  throat.  The  road  was  visible 
for  a  considerable  distance,  winding  up  the  valley  like 
a  smooth  buff  ribbon ;  the  brook  flowing  light  and 
dark  beside  it,  in  pleasing  contrast  with  the  bright, 
moist  green  of  the  grass  and  the  swarthy  tint  of  the 
pine-clad  hill.  The  whole  valley  was  a  westward- 
curving  furrow,  ploughed  by  some  immeasurable 
giant.  The  summit  of  the  opposite  hill  was  bald 
above  its  side-growth  of  trees,  just  like  the  head  of 
an  elderly  man  in  a  counting-house.  White  villas 
dotted  the  slope,  even  to  the  top  ;  riverward  lay 
Schandau,  wedged  between  its  valley  walls,  and 
massed  around  its  steeple.  Against  the  horizon,  on 
all  sides,  uprose  abrupt  pinnacles  of  rock  and  jagged, 
detached  boulders,  the  like  of  which  abound  through- 
out this  region.  Lillienstein  was  hidden  by  the 
woods  behind  me;  but  the  crest  of  Wesenstein,  across 
the  river,  reached  into  sight.  A  faint  odor  of  pine 
leaves  hung  in  the  air",  though  the  breeze  was  scarcely 
strong  enough  to  blow  it  about. 


MOUNTAINEERING  IN  MINIATURE.  431 


X. 


I  LEFT  Friedens-Platz  to  the  babbling  Swedes, 
and  walked  along  the  ridge  of  the  hill,  as  on  the 
back  of  some  enormous  animal.  The  stillness  of  the 
woods  was  such  as  to  make  the  heart  beat;  each 
lusty  blade  of  grass,  and  leaf  of  tree,  and  vegetable, 
stood  so  motionless,  yet  so  deeply  alive.  At  length 
the  path  brought  me  to  the  verge  of  the  narrow,  pre- 
cipitous canon  through  which  the  road  runs  after 
passing  the  bend  above  the  Badehaus.  I  managed  to 
clamber  out  upon  an  almost  inaccessible  boulder, 
which  had  been  partly  detached  from  the  face  of  the 
cliff,  and  dizzily  overhung  the  road.  Here  a  deep 
ledge,  cushioned  with  heather,  served  me  admirably 
for  a  seat,  and  a  projection  lower  down  gave  a  rest 
for  my  feet.  I  was  indistinguishable  from  the  road, 
and  invisible  from  behind ;  yet  myself  commanded 
everything.  It  was  a  fall  of  about  three  hundred 
feet  to  the  road  below. 

Facing  me  was  a  magnificent  bastion  of  rock,  ris- 
ing to  a  higher  level  than  mine,  and  split  and  cleft 
in  every  conceivable  direction.  Wherever  root  could 


432  SAXON  STUDIES. 

cling,  the  stern  surface  was  softened  and  enriched 
with  small  trees,  bushes,  or  heather ;  which  last,  be- 
ing very  plentiful  and  in  full  purple  bloom,  gave  a 
delicious  tone  to  the  slopes.  The  rock  itself  was  va- 
rious in  tint;  reddish  where  Little  exposed  to  rain 
and  sunshine ;  in  other  places  gray ;  and  mottled 
elsewhere  by  lichens  like  a  Persian  rug.  One  kind 
of  lichen,  not  uncommon,  showed  in  broad  splashes 
of  sulphur-yellow.  All  these  colors,  harmonizing 
among  one  another,  were  turned  to  wholly  different 
keys  by  sunshine  or  shadow.  In  many  parts  the  sun- 
light caught  the  bastion  obliquely,  illuminating  the 
projecting  points  in  sharp  contrast  with  the  rest. 
The  silent  immobility  of  rocks  is  profoundly  impres- 
sive ;  and  this  surface-play  of  light  and  color  but  em- 
phasizes their  real  unchangeableness. 

The  broader  clefts  or  gorges,  extending  from  top 
to  bottom  of  the  bluffs,  were  verdant  and  rich  with 
crowded  foliage,  and  seemed  to  invite  ascent;  for, 
wherever  a  tree  can  grow,  there  man  fancies  he  too 
has  a  right-  to  be.  Great  boulders  had  in  many 
places  fallen  from  above,  and  lay  buried  in  green  be- 
side the  brook.  For  centuries  had  they  lain  there ; 
and  slowly,  silently,  and  beautifully  had  Nature 
healed  their  scars,  and  clothed  their  nakedness  with 
moss,  heather,  and  leaves  of  all  kinds.  Trees  pressed 
in  lovely  jealousy  to  the  brook-side,  eager  to  see  their 


MOUNTAINEERING  IN   MINIATURE.  433 

tender  images  mirrored  there.  How  sweetly  and 
closely  they  mingled  together,  branch  within  branch 
and  leaf  to  leaf,  each  with  its  own  beauty  beautify- 
ing its  neighbor !  How  rich  were  their  contrasting 
shades  of  green !  How  melodiously  did  they  whis- 
per to  one  another,  when  the  breeze  gave  them 
tongue !  How  well  each  leaf  and  bough  turned  sun 
and  shade  to  advantage,  and  how  inspiring  was  the 
upward  impulse  that  filled  each  one !  If  trees,  as 
some  maintain,  are  emblems  of  men,  it  must  be  the 
men  of  the  golden  age  ! 

Those  which  grew  beside  the  brook  had,  in  some 
cases,  attained  a  large  size ;  but  only  the  smaller  ones 
had  been  venturous  enough  to  scale  the  cliffs  and 
peer  fearfully  over  the  hollow  verges.  Trees  have  a 
fine  and  novel  effect  when  seen  from  above  with  the 
sun  shining  on  them.  The  edges  of  the  successive 
layers  of  branches  catch  the  yellow  light;  and  the 
structure  and  character  of  the  tree,  as  it  tapers  up- 
ward to  a  point,  is  thus  more  clearly  defined  than 
when  viewed  from  below,  or  on  a  level.  But  their 
fascination  is,  in  all  respects,  inexhaustible.  Where 
they  overhung  the  brook,  its  warm  brown  tint  was 
deepened  to  black  ;  but,  through  the  midst  of  the 
gloom,  its  wrinkled  surface  snatched  at  the  light  in 
magic  sparkles :  Nature  never  omits  what  is  needful 
to  complete  her  harmony.  I  could  hear  the  gurgle 

28 


434  SAXON   STUDIES. 

of  the  stream,  however,  more  distinctly  than  I  could 
discover  the  stream  itself.  All  sounds  were  so  echoed 
up  between  the  rocky  walls,  that  they  reached  my 
ears  as  plainly  as  if  originating  but  a  few  yards  off. 
A  hill-top  is  a  real  and  not  an  apparent  —  a  moral 
as  well  as  "a  physical  —  height.  I  doubt  whether  a 
murder,  seen  from  a  great  elevation,  would  move  the 
beholder  to  any  deeper  feeling  than  pity  —  men's 
deeds  appear  of  a  size  proportional  to  their  own.  I 
should  like  to  be  informed,  however,  which  requires 
the  finer  structure  of  mind,  —  the  power  to  appre- 
ciate Nature  in  great  or  in  little  ?  To  be  able  to 
see  the  beauty  of  a  grand  prospect,  or  of  a  mossy 
stone  shadowed  with  fern?  Certainly,  a  common 
man,  who  would  gaze  with  admiration  at  the  former, 
would  see  nothing  worthy  attention  in  the  latter.  It 
is  true,  on  the  other  hand,  that  refinement  loves  not 
the  little  to  the  exclusion  of  the  great,  but  great  and 
little  both.  Neither  does  vulgar  admiration  necessa- 
rily vulgarize  its  object.  Nevertheless,  who  can  dis- 
cern minute  beauties  may  recognize,  in  great,  quali- 
ties invisible  to  the  untrained  eye  ;  and  the  common 
man,  perhaps,  loves  not  solely  or  chiefly  the  gran- 
deur of  the  prospect,  but,  rather,  that  sensation  of 
moral  in  material  elevation  —  the  feeling  that  he  is 
grander  than  the  grandeur  —  the  crown  and  culmi- 
nation of  it. 


MOUNTAINEERING   IN   MINIATURE.  435 


XI. 


A  PRECIPICE  possesses  a  strange  charm ;  it  is,  in  a 
manner,  divine,  being  inaccessible  to  man,  with  his 
belittling  civilization.  But  if  steep  places  lead  our 
upward-gazing  thoughts  heavenward,  they  also  re- 
mind us  of  the  devil  when  we  shudder  on  their  brink. 
What  is  the  spiritual  significance  of  the  phenomena 
of  gravitation  ?  Something  profound  and  universal, 
I  fancy.  I  have  never  experienced  the  common  de- 
sire to  spring  from  great  heights  ;  but  had  I,  as  a 
malefactor,  to  choose  my  form  of  death,  I  would  cling 
to  some  such  great  boulder  as  that  on  which  I  was 
then  sitting,  and  bid  the  executioner  use  his  lever. 
Then  headlong  downward  would  we  thlinder  to  the 
valley's  far  bottom,  and,  falling  underneath,  I  should 
be  provided  with  both  a  grave  and  a  gravestone  ere 
I  were  well  dead.  But  that  the  general  adoption  of 
this  expedient  for  settling  with  condemned  criminals 
would  soon  deprive  us  of  all  our  overhanging  cliffs, 
to  say  nothing  of  scaring  away  superstitious  tourists 
and  picnickers  from  our  valleys,  I  would  respectfully 
recommend  it  to  the  consideration  of  the  Board. 


436  SAXON   STUDIES.    • 

What  I  most  liked  about  my  boulder  (apart  from 
such  reflections)  was  its  isolation  —  the  thought  that 
nobody  could  find  me  out,  or  get  to  me  if  they  did. 
I  was  separated  from  my  kind ;  and,  though  greatly 
in  the  minority,  I  felt  that  the  advantage  was  on  my 
side  —  I  had  banished  them,  not  they  me.  More- 
over, I  indulged  myself  with  the  persuasion  that  I 
was  the  first  who  had  ever  set  foot  on  that  spot,  and 
that  a  long  time  would  elapse  before  any  one  came 
after  me  ;  and  then  I  amused  myself  with  speculat- 
ing on  what  manner  of  man  he,  my  successor,  would 
be  ;  whether  he  were  yet  born ;  whether  he  would  be 
a  Frenchman  out  of  the  next  war,  or  whether  aeons 
would  go  by,  and  Europe  be  known  by  another  title 
before  he  came.  Pending  these  questions  I  took  out 
my  pipe  and  smoked,  where  no  man  ever  smoked  be- 
fore. My  isolation,  it  must  be  confessed,  had  not 
separated  me  from  the  faculty  of  enjoying  good  to- 
bacco as  other  men  enjoyed  it ;  or,  for  that  matter, 
from  being  shone  on  by  their  sun  and  breathing  their 
air.  After  all,  therefore,  it  amounted  to  very  little. 
Every  human  soul  stands  on  a  pinnacle  of  its  own, 
eternally  individualized  from  all  its  fellows  ;  but  our 
very  individuality  is  our  plainest  badge  of  brother- 
hood ;  and  the  love  and  life  which  the  good  God 
gives  us  show  it  to  be  but  a  means  to  his  end,  and 
otherwise  insignificant. 

An  excursion-carriage  rattled  by,  seeming  to  make    . 


MOUNTAINEERING    IN   MINIATURE.  437 

slower  progress  than  it  did ;  I  watched  it  from  its 
first  appearance  round  the  southern  bend  till  it  dis- 
appeared just  beneath  my  feet ;  and,  on  its  reappear- 
ance, till  it  went  out  of  sight  behind  a  road-side  cot- 
tage about  a  quarter  of  a  mile  northward. ,  The 
driver  blabbed  his  guide-book  formulas  as  they 
passed,  pointing  here  and  there  with  his  whip  ;  and 
the  people  stared  dutifully  at  the  rocks,  and  straight 
at  my  boulder,  but  without  noticing  the  strange  fun- 
gus upon  it.  At  one  moment  I  might  have  dropped 
the  ashes  of  my  pipe  right  into  the  open  mouth  of 
the  senior  member  of  the  party.  Sometime  after 
this,  three  pedestrians  came  in  sight  —  two  at  the 
southern  bend  of  the  road,  and  one  at  the  northern. 
The  curve  of  the  valley  was  such  that,  at  the  rate 
they  were  going,  they  would  not  come  in  view  of 
each  other  until  within  a  few  yards  of  their  meeting- 
point,  this  point  being  a  little  to  the  right  of  my  posi- 
tion, and  about  opposite  a  decayed  bridge,  which,  by 
the  way,  must  have  been  built  for  no  other  purpose 
than  to  fish  from  it,  for  its  farther  end  almost  im- 
pinged upon  the  vertical  face  of  the  opposite  cliff,  up 
which  not  even  a  Bertram  Risingham  could  have 
conveyed  himself. 

As  the  three  pedestrians  drew  near,  I  perceived  the 
two  southerners  to  be  tramps  ;  but  the  northerner 
was  an  ambitious  young  man  in  a  black  frock-coat, 
ruffled  shirt-front,  and  straw  hat  on  the  back  of  his 


438  SAXON  STUDIES. 

head.  He  strode  along  with  a  magniloquent  step, 
declaiming,  with  passionate  emphasis,  and  at  the  top 
of  his  compass,  some  passage  of  blank-verse.  His 
gestures  were  very  striking ;  he  held  his  head  well 
up,  flung  his  arms  about,  slapped  his  breast,  and 
made  his  voice  resound  through  the  canon.  Mean- 
while the  two  tramps  shuffled  along,  as  unconscious 
as  was  he  of  their  mutual  proximity. 

"  This  young  fellow,"  said  I  to  myself,  "  evidently 
has  a  mind  to  be  an  orator  and  a  statesman.  He 
feels  the  seeds  of  greatness  within  him.  Now  he  im- 
agines himself  in  the  senate,  confronting  the  opposi- 
tion. That  point  was  well  given  !  Bismarck  is  get- 
ting old ;  who  knows  whether  I  do  not  here  behold 
his  successor  ?  "  .  The  young  orator  was  now  within 
a  couple  of  rods  of  the  bridge,  and  suddenly  he  and 
the  tramps  came  face  to  face.  I  watched  with  inter- 
est. His  voice  quavered  and  sank ;  he  cleared  his 
throat,  put  his  hands  in  his  pockets,  and  whistled. 
Bismarck,  or  any  truly  great  man,  would  have  kept 
on,  louder  than  ever  —  nay,  would  have  compelled 
the  tramps  to  stop  and  hear  him  out !  But  this 
young  man  feared  to  appear  ridiculous  ;  and  the  sav- 
age sincerity  which  Mr.  Carlyle  ascribes  to  all  great 
men  is  not  reconcilable  with  any  such  timidity.  A 
great  man  must  spend  his  life  in  what,  for  a  small 
man,  would  be  a  position  intolerably  ridiculous,  even 
for  a  minute. 


MOUNTAINEERING  IN  MINIATURE.  439 


XII. 


I  CLIMBED  gingerly  back  to  the  main-land,  and, 
leaving  my  boulder  forever,  made  my  way  by  de- 
grees to  the  road,  and  followed  it  for  about  a  mile. 
At  one  point  the  brook  made  a  little  detour,  inclosing 
a  lawn  of  the  softest  and  most  brilliant  green  I  ever 
beheld.  Straight  upward  from  it  sprang  a  smooth, 
gray  bluff,  near  two  hundred  feet  in  height,  throwing 
a  deep,  cool  shadow,  sharply  defined,  over  half  the 
plot.  Two  peasant-women  were  mowing  the  grass 
with  sickles,  and  the  wind,  which  had  begun  to  rise, 
was  taking  great  liberties  with  the  skirts,  which  at 
best  scarcely  covered  the  knees  of  their  stout,  bare 
legs.  Along  the  summit  of  the  cliff  overhead  a  pro- 
cession of  long-shanked  trees  was  straggling  against 
the  sky.  Farther  on  I  came  to  the  entrance  of  a 
wood-path,  whose  shady  invitation  I  could  not  resist ; 
and  in  a  few  minutes  more  I  found  myself 'in  the 
heart  of  a  pine-forest. 

I  sat  down  upon  a  mossy  stump,  such  as  poets 
write  of,  —  indeed,  mossy  stumps  and  stones  have  be- 
come so  hackneyed  in  literature  that  I  am  shy  of 


440  SAXON  STUDIES. 

further  enlarging  upon  them.  The  pines  were  from 
sixty  to  one  hundred  feet  high,  growing  palm-like, 
with  all  their  foliage  at  the  top.  Their  music,  there- 
fore, sounded  far  away,  like  the  murmur  of  an  ocean 
in  the  clouds.  Their  thick,  dark  foliage  strove  to 
veil  from  the  sun  the  slender  nakedness  of  their  long, 
graceful  limbs ;  but  he  peeped  through,  nevertheless, 
and  made  beautiful  sport  of  their  shyest  secrets. 
Around  their  roots  was  a  sweet,  omnipresent  damp- 
ness, encouraging  moss  to  flourish,  and  display  its 
most  "delicate  tints.  There  was  no  grass  or  flowers  to 
speak  of,  but  plenty  of  low  bushes  and  green,  creep- 
ing vines  and  elegant  ferns.  The  forest  was  full  of 
clear  twilight,  in  which  the  occasional  shafts  of  sun- 
light burned  like  celestial  torches. 

Still  bearing  eastward,  the  forest  gave  way  to  high, 
rocky  fields,  crossing  which  I  presently  sighted  a  stu- 
pendous, four-sided  mountain  of  stone,  standing  soli- 
tary and  apart,  its  bare  walls  ascending  far  above  the 
tops  of  the  tallest  trees,  and  scarcely  suffering  even 
lichens  to  gain  foothold  on  them.  Deep  fissures, 
crossing  one  another  almost  rectangularly,  gave  the 
great  tnass  the  appearance  of  having  been  piled  to- 
gether of  great  blocks  of  stone,  in  comparison  with 
which  the  huge  shafts  of  Stonehenge  would  be  mere 
dominoes.  On  the  summit  was  a  sparse  growth  of 
scrawny  pines,  looking  as  though  they  had  lost  flesh 


MOUNTAINEERING   IN   MINIATURE.  441 

from  exposure  and  from  the  peril  of  their  position. 
In  short,  this  might  have  been  the  donjon-tower  of 
some  Atlantean  castle,  the  remainder  of  which  had 
either  been  overthrown  and  annihilated,  or  was 
buried  beneath  the  sand  out  of  which  the  lonely 
tower  arose. 

But  whether  or  not  the  antediluvian  theory  be  ten- 
able, at  all  events  this  rock  had  been  used  as  a 
stronghold  in  modern  times  —  that  is,  within  the  last 
three  centuries.  A  band  of  robbers  lived  here,  and 
the  rock  is  full  of  traces  of  their  occupation.  A  place 
more  impregnable  could  scarcely  be  imagined.  After 
toiling  up  an  arduous  sandy  path,  as  steep  as  the  roof 
of  a  house,  until  pretty  well  out  of  breath,  I  came  to 
the  base  of  the  Stein  itself.  The  way  now  lay  up 
perpendicular  fissures,  through  narrow  crevices,  un- 
derneath superincumbent  masses,  and  along  danger- 
ous precipices  where  precarious  footholds  had  been 
cut  in  the  solid  stone.  Still  farther  up,  hands  rather 
than  feet  came  into  play,  and  three  or  four  extra 
pairs  of  arms  and  legs  might  have  been  employed  to 
great  advantage.  How  the  robbers  ever  got  their 
booty  up  this  ascent,  or  had  strength  left  for  any- 
thing except  to  lie  down  and  faint  after  they  had 
done  so,  it  is  hard  to  understand.  At  length,  how- 
ever, I  reached  the  great  cave,  formed  by  the  leaning 
together  of  the  two  principal  boulders  of  the  pile. 


442  SAXON   STUDIES. 

It  was  about  twelve  feet  wide  at  the  base,  and  four 
times  as  high  to  the  crotch  of  the  roof.  The  end  op- 
posite the  entrance  was  blocked  up  with  fragments 
of  rock  and  rubbish.  A  large  oblong  pit  was  dug  in 
the  solid  stone  floor,  and  was  used,  I  presume,  either 
to  keep  provisions  and  booty  in,  or  as  a  dungeon  for 
captives.  It  had  been  covered  over  with  a  wooden 
flooring,  the  square  holes  in  the  rock  which  held  the 
ends  of  the  beams  being  still  visible. 

From  this,  which  may  be  called  the  ground-floor  of 
the  robbers'  dwelling,  to  the  upper  stories,  there  was 
originally  no  means  of  access.  The  old  fellows, 
therefore,  by  wedging  short  sticks  of  wood  one  above 
another  into  an  irregular  fissure  extending  nearly 
from  the  top  to  the  bottom  of  the  Stein,  constructed 
a  primitive  sort  of  staircase,  traces  of  which  yet  re- 
main. Some  enterprising  modern,  however,  has  in- 
troduced a  couple  of  ladders,  whereby  the  ascent  is 
greatly  facilitated.  Above  I  found,  at  various  well- 
chosen  points,  the  marks  of  old  barricades,  showing 
that  these  brigands  had  some  sound  notions  on  fortifi- 
cation, and  had  resolved,  moreover,  to  sell  their  lives 
dearly,  and  to  fight  to  the  last  man.  It  is  inconceiv- 
able, though,  that  any  force  unprovided  with  the 
heaviest  artillery  could  have  made  the  slightest  im- 
pression on  such  a  stronghold  as  this.  In  those  days 
of  bucklers  and  blunderbusses,  a  new-born  babe 
might  have  held  it  single-handed  against  an  army. 


MOUNTAINEERING  IN  MINIATURE.  443 

It  was  very  windy  on  the  summit,  and  an  excess  of 
wind  ruffles  up  the  nerves,  blows  away  common 
sense,  baffles  thought,  and  tempts  to  rashness  and 
vain  resentment.  The  place,  too,  was  a  maze  of  sud- 
den crevasses,  just  wide  enough  to  fall  into,  and  ut- 
terly impossible  to  get  out  of.  What  a  ghastly  fate 
to  be  lodged  in  one  of  them,  remembering  that  the 
Stein  is  visited  hardly  once  a  month  in  the  height  of 
the  season !  I  was  already  so  hungry  that  the  mere 
thought  of  such  a  catastrophe  put  me  out  of  all  con- 
ceit with  the  robber-fortress.  Accordingly,  I  made 
the  best  of  my  way  earthward ;  and,  having  previ- 
ously taken  my  bearings,  I  steered  for  a  neighboring 
farm-house,  where  a  smiling  old  lady,  white-capped, 
yellow-petticoated,  and  barelegged,  fetched  me  a 
tumbler  of  cool,  creamy  milk  nearly  twelve  inches 
high. 


444  SAXON   STUDIES. 


XIII. 

my  homeward  journey  I  happened  upon  a 
long,  winding  shadow-haunted  pass,  such  as  abounds 
in  this  region,  and  which  reminded  me  (as,  indeed, 
did  the  whole  Saxon  Switzerland)  of  our  own  Yel- 
lowstone Valley,  modelled  on,the  scale  of  one  inch  to 
the  foot,  or  thereabouts.  The  white-sanded  bottom 
was  so  narrow  that  space  was  scarcely  left  for  the 
slender  path  to  follow  the  meanderings  of  the  rivu- 
let, which  tinkled  concealed  beneath  luxuriant  over- 
growths of  foget-me-not  and  fern.  Up  to  the  sky,  on 
either  side,  climbed  the  rugged  walls,  shaggy  with  fir 
and  hemlock,  and  thatched  below  with  grass-tufts 
and  shrubs.  The  fallen  fragments  which  ever  and 
anon  blocked  the  way  with  their  surly  shoulders  were 
iridescent  with  green  moss,  and  dampness  seemed  to 
exude  from  the  rocky  clefts.  The  footpath  was  criss- 
crossed with  pine-roots,  till  it  resembled  an  irregular 
parquet-floor.  Sometimes  the  boulders  had  so  fallen 
together  as  to  inclose  spacious  hollows,  the  crevices  of 
which  had  been  stopped  up  with  sand  and  pebbles 
and  vegetable  decay.  One  might  have  lived  very 


MOUNTAINEERING   IN    MINIATURE.  445 

comfortably  in  many  of  these  caves  ;  they  were  over- 
run with  raspberry  and  blackberry  vines,  and  within 
were  cool  and  dry,  with  clean,  sanded  floors.  But  I 
saw  no  troglodytes. 

At  one  point  a  broad  nose  of  rock  jutted  over  the 
pathway  full  fifteen  feet,  like  a  ceiling ;  and  so  low- 
studded  was  it  that  I  could  easily  touch  its  flat  sur- 
face with  my  upraised  hand.  There  was  something 
fascinating  about  this  freak,  and  at  the  same  time 
provocative  of  a  smile,  —  Old  Nature  making  a  hu- 
morous pretence  of  imitating  the  works  of  man  ! 
But  the  grotesque  pranks  she  plays  with  this  soft- 
hearted white  sandstone  of  hers  are  indescribable  and 
endless.  In  many  places  the  surface  of  the  rock  is 
honey-combed  and  otherwise  marked  as  if  by  the  ac- 
tion of  water.  I  am  not  acquainted  with  the  geolog- 
ical history  of  this  strange  tract ;  but  I  should  fancy 
it  might  have  been  the  compact,  sandy  bed  of  some 
great  lake,  which  having  broken  its  boundaries,  and 
gone  seaward  by  way  of  the  Elbe,  the  sand-bed  caked 
and  cracked  and  hardened,  and  became  traversed 
with  ravines  and  gulches,  worn  by  downward-perco- 
lating streams.  The  lake  must  have  subsided  grad- 
ually to  produce  the  horizontal  markings  which  are 
everywhere  apparent.  I  have  often  seen  precisely 
similar  formations  to  this  of  the  Saxon  Switzerland 
at  the  bottom  of  dried-off  mud-ponds.  In  the  sea, 


446  SAXON  STUDIES. 

beyond  the  mouth  of  the  Elbe,  are  great  shoals  and 
bars,  composed  of  the  same  kind  of  sand  as  that 
which  I  trod  under  foot  in  this  shadowy  ravine. 

It  should  not  be  called  a  pass,  for  it  was  a  place 
to  linger  and  pause  in,  to  enter  at  sunrise  and  scarcely 
depart  from  by  moonlight.  It  seemed  wholly  se- 
cluded ;  I  met  neither  foot  nor  footprint  throughout 
its  whole  long  length.  Even  the  sky  might  not  be 
too  familiar ;  looking  upward,  but  a  narrow  strip  of 
blue  was  visible,  and  the»overbending  trees  fretted 
even  that  with  emerald  lattice-work.  However,  I 
could  not  support  life  on  raspberries  and  water ;  the 
afternoon  was  more  than  half  gone,  and  I  had  no 
idea  how  far  off  the  Badehaus  might  be.  Hasten- 
ing onward,  the  narrow  walls  of  the  ravine  suddenly 
opened  out  right  and  left  in  a  vast  circular  sweep, 
and  I  stood  within  a  grand  natural  amphitheatre, 
rising  high  and  descending  low  above  and  beneath. 
My  station  was  about  a  third  of  the  way  up,  in 
what  might  be  called  the  dress-circle.  The  arena 
below  was  crowded  thick  with  summer  foliage,  — 
oaks,  elms,  beeches,  and  underbrush  in  profusion. 
These  were  the  players  —  gay  fellows,  in  nodding 
caps  and  green  fluttering  cloaks.  The  audience 
was  composed  of  a  stiff  and  sedate  assemblage  of 
dark-browed  hemlocks,  rigid  and  erect  each  in  his 
rock-bound  seat.  My  arrival  seemed  to  have  put 


MOUNTAINEERING  IN  MINIATURE.  447 

an  abrupt  stop  to  the  proceedings,  whatever  they 
may  have  been ;  there  was  no  voice  or  movement 
anywhere  save  as  created  involuntarily  by  the  mys- 
terious wind.  On  my  shouting  across,  however,  to 
a  sombre  giant  on  the  opposite  side  of  the  amphi- 
theatre, to  know  the  title  of  the  drama  which  was 
under  representation,  he  answered  me,  indeed,  but 
with  an  unreal  tone  of  hollow  mockery,  and  in  such 
a  manner  as  to  leave  me  no  wiser  than  I  was  before. 
The  theatre,  vast  as  it  was,  had  only  two  doors  — 
that  by  which  I  had  entered,  and  another  just  op- 
posite. To  reach  this  I  must  make  half  the  circuit 
of  the  inclosure,  the  direct  route  across  the  arena 
being  impracticable,  owing  to  the  savagely  precip- 
itous nature  of  the  descent.  The  path  which  had 
hitherto  guided  me  now  bearing  to  the  right,  I  fol- 
lowed it  in  that  direction,  passing  almost  within  reach 
of  the  outstretched  arms  of  hundreds  of  inhospitable 
hemlocks.  Presently  the  sun,  which,  hidden  behind 
a  cloud,  had  sunk  almost  to  the  upper  verge  of  the 
rocky  rampart,  shone  out  with  mellow  lustre,  fling- 
ing my  shadow  far  away  into  the  centre  of  the 
arena,  where  the  green-coated  actors  treated  it  with 
great  indignity,  bandying  it  from  one  to  another, 
tossing  it  up  and  down,  and  more  than  once  letting 
it  tumble  heedlessly  into  some  treacherous  pitfall. 
Meanwhile  the  wind,  which  had  caused  me  no  small 


448  SAXON  STUDIES. 

annoyance  already  that  afternoon,  -was  maliciously 
making  the  rounds  of  the  house,  and  stirring  up 
every  individual  in  it  to  a  sibilant  utterance,  whose 
import  there  was  no  mistaking.  It  was  my  first  — 
and  will,  I  fancy,  be  my  last  —  experience  of  being 
hissed  out  of  a  theatre ;  I  could  not  help  resenting 
the  injustice  of  the  proceeding ;  yet,  after  all,  why 
should  I  consent  to  be  ruffled  by  their  senseless 
clamor  ?  I  can  accuse  myself  of  no  worse  fault  than 
the  venial  one  of  having  "  interviewed  "  them  and 
their  like  pretty  often,  and  occasionally  published 
some  part  of  my  observations  in  the  public  prints  ; 
but  if  I  have  erred,  it  has  been  on  the  side  of  eulogy  ; 
and  should  I  ever  have  occasion  to  mention  trees 
in  future,  it  will  be  with  the  proviso  that  all  of 
them  —  the  oldest,  biggest,  and  respectablest,  more 
particularly  —  are  no  better  than  incorrigible  block- 
heads at  bottom. 


MOUNTAINEERING  IN   MINIATURE.  449 


XIV. 

To  the  banks  of  the  Elbe  I  came  at  last,  with 
a  sandy  distance  of  three  or  four  miles  still  lying 
between  me  and  Schandau.  But  the  scenery  here- 
abouts is  novel  and  striking ;  the  stone-quarries  ex- 
tending up  and  down  the  river  for  many  leagues, 
and  the  heaps  of  sand  and  debris  rising  to  an  aver- 
age height  of  perhaps  a  hundred  feet,  and  sloping 
sharply  downward  to  the  water's  edge,  are  a  re- 
markable if  not  a  strictly  beautiful  feature.  The 
path  —  if  the  informal  track  which  leads  a  risky 
life  along  the  base  of  these  lofty  dumping-grounds 
can  be  called  such  —  yields  wearisomely  to  the  feet, 
and  a  weary  lookout  must  be  kept  to  dodge  the 
heavy  stones  which  are  continually  bowling  down- 
ward from  the  summit.  At  intervals  there  are 
slides,  compactly  constructed  of  masonry  and  worn 
very  smooth,  by  which  the  square  blocks  quarried 
from  the  cliffs  are  shot  to  the  water's  edge,  and  are 
there  taken  on  board  by  canal-boats  and  floated  to 
Dresden,  all  the  modern  part  of  which  is  built  of 
this  material.  The  supply  is  practically  inexhausti- 

29 


450  SAXON   STUDIES. 

ble,  but  that  does  not  prevent  the  cliffs  from  suf- 
fering in  appearance ;  and  before  many  years  a  voy- 
age up  the  Elbe  will  be  no  longer  attractive.  It  is 
a  nice  question  in  economy,  whether  it  be  worth 
while  to  rob  Saxon  Switzerland  to  pay  Dresden. 
Perhaps  only  the  stone-contractors  would  answer  it 
unhesitatingly  in  the  affirmative.  It  reminds  me  of 
the  little  boy  who  was  courted  by  his  friends  as  be- 
ing the  possessor  of  a  fine  cake.  With  the  praise- 
worthy purpose  of  at  once  concentrating  and  aug- 
menting their  regard,  he  made  the  cake  a  part  of 
himself  by  eating  it.  But,  strange  to  say,  his  friends 
ceased  to  visit  him  from  that  day  forward,  and  the 
cake  gave  him  a  stomach-ache. 

I  took  my  dinner  that  evening  at  the  Forsthaus, 
one  of  that  row  of  hotels  which  rampart  Schandau. 
Hot  and  noisy  as  they  are  to  live  in,  their  bill-of- 
fare  is  to  Hen1  Boettcher's  as  a  novel  by  Thacke- 
ray to  a  school-boy's  composition.  I  dined  on  a  ter- 
race beneath  the  trees,  with  the  river  just  beyond. 
At  dark,  every  table  had  its  great  astral-lamp,  and 
the  gentlemanly  proprietor  amused  himself  and  his 
guests  by  making  blue,  red,  and  green  fires  on  the 
stone  steps. 

Next  morning,  as  I  stood  with  .my  valise  and  a 
ticket  for  Prag,  on  the  platform  of  the  railway-sta- 
tion at  Krippen,  a  fellow  —  he  keeps  a  small  to- 


MOUNTAINEERING  IN   MINIATURE.          -        451 

bacco-store  on  See-Strasse,  in  Dresden  —  stepped  up 
to  me,  and,  after  requesting  the  favor  of  a  light  from 
my  cigar,  supposed,  in  a  cheerful  tone,  that  I  was 
returning  to  town  by  the  approaching  train. 

"  No,"  said  I ;  "  I  left  Dresden  finally  yesterday 
morning.  I  doubt  whether  I  ever  see  you,  or  buy 
your  cigars,  again." 

At  this  moment  the  train  came  in  ;  the  cigar-ven- 
dor turned  to  a  pretty  young  woman,  with  a  white 
parasol,  who  was  standing  at  his  side,  and  assisted 
her  into  a  second-class  carriage  ;  I  happened  to  no- 
tice, as  she  stepped  in,  that  her  foot  and  ankle  were 
remarkably  neat  and  shapely.  The  guard  blew  his 
whistle,  the  engineer  answered,  the  train  gave  a  jerk, 
a  rattle,  and  was  gone.  I  watched  it  out  of  sight 
round  the  bend,  and  then  —  my  own  train  not  being 
due  for  five  minutes  —  I  called  for  a  glass  of  beer. 
A  stirrup-cup  to  Saxony  ! 

Why  have  I  preserved  from  oblivion  this  foolish, 
unsatisfactory  little  episode  ?  Perhaps  because,  to 
me,  it  was  typical  of  my  entire  Dresden  experience. 
The  city  charms  at  first  sight  —  at  a  distance  —  or 
mirrored  in  the  glass  of  the  imagination.  There  is  a 
mirage  of  grace  and  neatness  about  it  that  captivates 
us  unawares.  Howbeit,  a  nearer  acquaintance  dis- 
pels all  illusions  :  we  discover  various  unlovely  traits, 
intrinsic  no  less  than  accidental.  The  place  is  in 


452  SAXON   STUDIES. 

bad  hands  —  vulgarly  companioned  and  beset — in- 
vested with  a  questionable  atmosphere  —  and  what 
is  worse,  does  not  seem  to  mind  it.  It  is  impossible 
to  enjoy  its  beauties  apart  from  its  defects :  the 
latter  are  innate,  the  former  purely  superficial.  It  is 
the  more  disappointing  from  having  bid  fair  to  in- 
terest us ;  but  the  parting  disappointment  is  the 
saddest  of  all,  —  that  so  few  and  slight  regrets  at- 
tend our  last  farewell! 


1  I  .-.'-.' 


A    000  121  380     o 


